


Pendulum: Beginning

by hariboo



Series: Pendulum [1]
Category: Marvel Avengers Movies Universe, The Avengers (2012), Thor (2011)
Genre: F/M, Male-Female Friendship, Norse Myths & Legends, Post Avengers (Movie)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-31
Updated: 2012-08-31
Packaged: 2017-11-12 22:15:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 28,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/496214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hariboo/pseuds/hariboo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kept apart, with worlds between them, Jane and Thor do not give up on one day finding each other again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. .00

**Author's Note:**

> And some the art by red_b_rackman! <333 [Pendulum](http://archiveofourown.org/works/494426), cover art and scene art.
> 
> Okay, disclaimer~~ time. They way I see Loki and the way _Thor_ sees Loki are two different things. Thor’s still very confused if angry at his brother and wants to, well, save him, for a lack of a better word. However, I don’t particularly think Loki wants to be saved so that was for some fun writing. I know in the Avengers movie it's suggested that Jane's placement in Norway might not be directly in a SHIELD facility but I'm taking canon from all over the place. Norse canon, movie canon, comics canon, some cartoon (A:EMH), with a couple mentions to Nick Fury's Big Week. I've stucked it all in my mind blender and hit frappé. (more notes at the end of the fic.)

>   
>  _the thin child thought less (or so now it seems) of where she herself came from, and more about that old question, why is there something rather than nothing?_  
> 
> 
> RAGNAROK: THE END OF THE GODS.
> 
> A.S. Byatt
> 
> _We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars._
> 
> Oscar Wilde

_.shadow_

 

She was interesting, the human woman. That she caught Thor’s attention was even more interesting. He had not lied to Thor when he said he would pay her a visit, even if Thor confused his intent. His no-longer-brother always misread his words as much as Loki allowed himself to be misread. Loki had stopped paying it any mind centuries ago.

However.

Jane Foster _was_ very interesting, more so than he would have thought, with a mind full of symbols and stars. When on Midgard, in the small stolen moments where the Tesseract did not call, he found himself splitting his time between shadowing her and pulling at Selvig’s strings. He watched her from afar like a pet, amused at her antics. He almost found her drive for knowledge admirable, if incredibly naive. So passionate, was she in this search for Thor. It was amusing how close she was to understanding the intricacies of the cosmos, but it was to Selvig that Midgard’s SHIELD presented the Tesseract.

 _They are all but children playing with toys they do not fully understand. And you are one as well._ He pushed the last thought away. The spectre in his hand pulsed. He could not falter now. He had come too far. The game too far into play.

Near him, unseeing, Jane Foster punched the key of her little machine and moved away when the equipment started beeping.

Loki leaned over the space she had vacated. She was so very close. If the Chitauri failed, there was still this. A last gambit.

Feeling the pull of the Representative he communicated with, Loki turned his back on Jane, slipping through the dark branches of Yggdrasil to where the Chitauri waited for him. They asked if he was ready.

Loki did not think of Jane when he answered. He did not think of Midgard. He thought only of how his glory would burn in the Allfather’s gaze. He would prove himself worthy yet.

Loki said, “Yes.”

Later, after he opened the door, after he acquired Selvig and the Hawkeye, after he dropped his brother into the sky as Thor had done to him ( _had not, lie-smith_ ), Loki slipped away to look for her. Fury had had SHIELD move and protect her, and Loki let them believe they had succeeded. Thor had arrived, which was the point of all of this.

There was no need to taunt his brother with his knowledge on the small Bridge Seeker.

Such knowledge must be kept for later.

 

_.seeker_

 

She was in the middle of reattaching a few components to one of her machines when the screwdriver dropped. Slipping from her fingers, it bounced off the edge of table and clattered to the floor. Jane Foster closed her eyes and drew in a breath. Darcy was always telling her to count to ten.

It was less than twenty-four hours since she had gotten the two calls: one from Coulson, telling her about her new position at SHEILD’s Norway installation, followed by one from Fury after she hadn’t immediately responded telling her she’d better accept and get on that plane.

SHIELD had mostly left her and Darcy alone in the desert after Thor left. Only Coulson’s monthly reports had interrupted her work, and she liked it that way. Even when they took Eric, she managed fine. She had her work and a promise.

Next thing she knew, she was herded on to a plane with Major Danvers telling her that her new lab was ready. Jane hadn't known she had a new lab waiting. She didn’t even want one. The way they had rushed into her lab with heavy boots and slick suits ready to take her to Norway reminded her too much of how they had taken her research last year. Major Danvers only managed to stop Jane from tackling the first SHIELD agent who had grabbed at her equipment by thrusting a thick file in Jane’s hands with **TOP SECRET: The Observatory** stamped on the top.

“Your new lab, Dr. Foster. I hope it will live up to your specifications. There’s a jet waiting for us.”

That had surprised Jane to say the least, though not as much as Darcy’s ability to talk her way onto the plane heading to Norway. How Darcy had Coulson’s personal number on her speed-dial Jane didn’t even want to know, but she was grateful. The now Poli-Sci graduate had become near invaluable to Jane over this last year working together.

Right now Darcy was getting some food from the facility’s cafeteria while Jane tried to get her equipment in working order and wondered how this had become her life.

No, that wasn’t quite true. She knew exactly when, down to the second. (It was in her notes, after all.)

The memory of Thor’s smile warmed her, as did the new state-of–the-art lab granting her access to one of the best observatories in the world. She should be ecstatic. Except she kept thinking about New Mexico and how she wouldn’t be there if he came back. Her gut had been a tight ball of anxiety since Coulson’s phone call that showed no signs of unwinding.

Crouching to pick up the screwdriver, Jane’s eyes fell to the machines around the lab. She shook her head. She twirled the screwdriver in her fingers. She couldn’t think like that. She had work to do. Her research on the Einstein-Rosen bridge was moving along—slowly, yes, but she felt as if she was on the cusp of something important. The relocation hadn't helped, but she was managing. Jane moved to the panel of her altered atmospheric reader and bent over it again, losing herself in the data. The wires twisted under her fingers like roots waiting for her to fix them.

It’s just as she finished the set up on the machine that Darcy skidded — actually skidded — into the lab with a breathless, “JANE!”

Jane looked up as she continued to adjust the machine’s settings, mostly out of muscle memory. “Where have you been? I thought you were getting coffee and food.” She tilted her head to look at the clock by the wall and spotted Darcy’s empty hands, “It’s been an hour.”

Darcy ignored her, rushing at her and pulling Jane’s arm. “And I’ve been calling you for the last twenty minutes, where is your phone?”

Jane shrugged, “I don’t know, my bag?”

Darcy’s eyes were wide, almost manic, and Jane started feeling that same twist in her gut. The same twist she got when there was another unanswered email from Erik. “What’s happened?”

Her answer came not in the form of words but in Darcy dragging her to Dr. Lawson’s office where Major Danvers was standing next to Lawson and the television was playing—

_Oh._

As she stumbled into the chair that Darcy directed her at, Jane’s breath was short. “It’s Thor.”

Flashes of the dreams she’d had since he left and the memory of Thor whipping them through the air made her swallow, her mouth dry.

From the corner of her eye she noticed Darcy pursing her lips. She squeezed Jane’s shoulder. Dr. Lawson’s eyes slid to her for a second before meeting Danvers’ eyes, but neither said anything. Or, if they did, Jane’s not paying attention to them or to Darcy’s commentary. All her focus was on the memory of what Thor’s cape felt like under her fingers and how she's seeing it twist around him as he crashed into buildings in Manhattan— _oh god_.

No wonder they rushed her out of the States so fast. She was gonna have some words with Coulson when she next saw him.

“I’ve been calling Phil for hours and nothing! It’s like a SHIELD blackout and god, can you believe that New York got full on Independence Day _yesterday_?”  
Apparently Darcy had been trying already.

 _Yesterday_. The word rung in Jane’s ears like a gunshot.

Jane’s head felt like it was spinning, and snapped to Darcy, “This was yesterday?” Thor was on Earth a day ago and she hadn’t known. Her throat was dry like a desert. She could feel the corner of her eyes tearing.

“Yeah, this has been the news report for most of the morning. Sorry, Jane.” Darcy turned to her, eyes sympathetic; behind her, Danvers and Lawson look politely away.

“How did we not know about this?” Jane stood, her hand running through her hair a few times before she fisted them on her hips and glared at Danvers.

“It was need-to-know, Dr. Foster,” Danvers said, her eyes soft but mouth stiff. Jane thought of Coulson. She was so going to have words with him.

Next to her Darcy wrapped an arm around Jane’s waist. Jane had a feeling it was as much for support as it was to hold Jane back if necessary. “Also I think we were sleeping. Timezones are a bitch.”

Her eyes move back to the television where the reporter was talking about Iron Man and the footage they show is of a huge green humanoid catching him. A faint memory of something having to do with Culver sparked, but she didn't focus on it once she caught a flash of a red cape at the edge of the next camera shot.

“I need to go to my lab,” she said, pushing away from Darcy with a small, forced, smile, “The equipment isn’t going to build itself.”

“Jane…” Darcy didn’t hide her worry well.

Jane didn’t turn back. Thor was on Earth. Thor was in New York, and he was in a huge battle that she could only hope he made out of. Her chest ached.

In the lab, she bypassed her equipment and rifled through the backpack she brought from New Mexico. In the front pocket, her phone sat quietly. Her fingers heavy as she held it. She always forgot to take it off of silent mode, and there were about five missed calls from Darcy, all in the last hour, plus a few texts on the same theme: GET TO WALTER’S OFFICE NOW. I MEAN IT.

Her fingers clenched around the phone, though Jane didn’t know why she was still holding it. It’s not like she could call Thor. Darcy said Coulson wasn’t picking up, and Erik hadn’t answered her calls in months.

Jane hated feeling shuffled off to the side, and she hated that nobody at SHIELD seemed to care enough to pull her back in. _Well, that just won’t do._

Temper propelling her, Jane left Erik and Coulson each a very short and angry message before returning to her work. It was either work or cry, Jane reasoned, and work always seemed the better option. Fiddling with dials would distract her from the hurt coiling in her, and the hum of her equipment calmed and focused her.

Thor might have come back, but none of her equipment had picked up any readings to prove it, which meant she still had work to do. After going through the last two days of satellite data and checking her own particle detectors, she noticed they had picked up _something_ in New York. The data wasn’t at all like the readings from New Mexico, but something using a lot of energy had punched some sort of portal through the sky allowing those aliens passage. Which meant that what opened in New York was not an Einstein-Rosen Bridge, so she still had to figure out a way to open the paths of Yggdrasil, as Thor had called the World Tree that held their worlds; paths that still laid dormant to her.

Jane saved the data her equipment had picked up from the portal in New York. She didn’t think it would help further her research, but you never knew. It could provide new leads in her work.  
She was also left wondering how Thor came to Earth, why he didn’t come to her, and where he was now. Without any answers coming to her—at least none she wanted to dwell on—Jane let the streams of number and theories on bridges swallow her.

Darcy came back into the lab a short while later still muttering about Coulson’s phone blackout. She said nothing to Jane about the news footage. They worked companionably until Darcy begged off saying there was still some paperwork they needed to fill out. Jane’s learned in the last year that Darcy was pretty smart about reading people, and she’s glad her young friend left her alone. Working was the only thing keeping Jane together and they both knew it. Wires, circuit boards, and star maps keep her focused.

The next time Jane took a break, it was three in the morning. Some quick math told her it was dinnertime in New Mexico, which accounted for her stomach feeling like a growling, empty pit. On Darcy’s desk, she saw a thermos and a covered plate with a sticky note. Jane smiled to herself and reads,

_Grilled cheese with tomato and coffee!!_

_:D_

_EAT IT ALL._

Jane took the food to her desk and did as instructed. She was hungry. One hand grabbed half of the sandwich. With her free hand, she flipped open her notebook and started writing. Her notes flowed across the page covering every inch of it and several pages following it. She did not stop writing even after her food was gone. At the end of her last page of notes, Jane yawned. She laid her head on her outstretched arm, absently flipping her notebook to where its spine was creased from overuse. Touching Thor’s scratchy lines alongside her own more circular ones, Jane sighed. She missed him the most at night when she thought of rooftops and fires. 

Closing her eyes, she yawned again.

Damn, Darcy must have given her decaf.

 

-

 

Jane woke slowly and winced. Her back was stiff, and she suddenly missed the ergonomic chair in New Mexico Darcy got her to buy last year. They didn’t get a chance to pack everything when they had left, only the essentials. Those mostly consisted of Jane’s notes, the portable equipment, their laptops, Darcy’s iPod, and whatever personal stuff they could get into their suitcases in the thirty minutes packing time SHIELD had given them. That had been two days ago, and now so much was different. It seemed to be a pattern with her life, and Jane’s not sure she liked it all that much. She was always the one left to pick up and make sense of the pieces after the change.

Stretching, feeling the quick pops along her spine, Jane looked down to her notebook to where her and Thor’s handwriting blended on the page.

_Your ancestors called it magic, but you call it science. I come from a land where they are one and the same._

Jane licked her lips and sighed. _One and the same._

New York came to mind again. She swallowed the growing lump in her throat and blinked away the moisture she felt gathering at the corner of her eyes. Selfishly, she’s glad that Darcy went back to the rooms that SHIELD gave them, because, sass aside, Darcy would be all hugs and comfort food right now. Jane didn’t—couldn’t— _wasn’t ready to_ accept that now. Thor had been in New York a day ago— and feeling like a fool for not realising it before, there was a good chance he _still_ was.

Pushing away from her desk, Jane rushed out of her lab, only to find Darcy sitting on her bed, two phones in her hand, eyes red. Before Jane could speak, Darcy jumped of the bed and started waving her hands in the air.

“Damn it, Jane! You need to keep this thing on you at all times, do you hear me? And take it off silent!” Darcy’s voice cracked, and she shoved Jane’s phone at her. Jane fumbled to grab it.

“What—”

“You have like three missed calls from Erik and five from a blocked number which I’m willing to bet was Agent Hill because guess who called me since you weren’t answering?” Darcy’s eyes got wetter with every word.

There’s that twist in her gut again.

“What did Agent Hill want?” Jane barely remembered the woman, having only met her once when SHIELD came collect Erik about a month after Thor left. She had been a shadow at Fury’s side the whole time.

Darcy dropped to Jane’s bed. “She—Erik was in New York,” Darcy said, making Jane's head snap to her, “Like in the middle of all the action and he was helping them close whatever that portal was doing in the sky.” The news footage had been mostly a blur of debris, explosions, and a glimpse of a red cape, but Jane recalled the image of a dark opening over the city and nodded.

“And I don’t know,” Darcy continued. “I think he got your message, and now he wants to talk to you, and apparently Fury wants to talk to you, too. And Jane,” Darcy hiccuped, her eyes wet and red behind her glasses. Jane’s breath caught, a hollow feeling filling her.

“Darcy, what happened?” Jane sat down next to Darcy.

Darcy sniffled, rubbing her hand across her nose. “Erik didn’t say much, but like it was Loki—New York—it was Loki, and Coulson’s dead.”

Jane phone slipped from her fingers. It clattered to the floor. Thor hadn’t spoken much of his family, but there had been affection in his voice when he spoke of his brother by their fire. That was before the Destroyer appeared, though, and before that affection turned into hurt and confusion at Loki’s betrayal. Jane wondered how he spoke of him now.

Darcy wasn’t finished, though. “That’s why he wasn’t answering my calls yesterday, he—Hill said that Coulson’s gone and that Danvers was gonna be our new SHIELD liaison.” Darcy started crying, and Jane pulled the younger woman into a hug.

“I don’t want a new liaison,” Darcy mumbled into her shoulder. That’s when Jane started crying, too. Her tears were more silent than Darcy’s but they flowed heavily down her cheeks.

On the floor, Jane’s phone beeped with the message from Erik, but Jane ignored it as she held a crying Darcy and tried to get her own tears under control. Coulson had been a hard-ass, sure, but they had gotten along once he had returned her work last year. She liked talking to him. He had never bullshitted her or given her the runaround like other SHIELD agents did. Darcy had liked him and they got along even better than Jane and Darcy did half the time. The last time she’d seen him he’d been telling Darcy about a cellist in Portland. He’d been a good ally, and she’s angry and guilty that it’s only now that she realised they had been something close to friends.

It’s all almost too unreal to believe, Jane thought. It reminded her how she felt when she got the call about her dad. She hadn’t wanted to believe it right away either, even knowing it was true. There was just too much information, and she hadn’t processed it all yet. Too many questions swirled in her head, and that twist in her gut hadn’t untwisted. It gnawed at her, shifting into sorrow.

In her arms, Darcy cried herself to sleep, curling herself around a pillow like a young child would a teddy bear. Jane brushed her fingers across Darcy’s forehead, sighing, feeling suddenly much older than her friend. Jane then forced herself into the bathroom, intent on taking shower, a hollow attempt to calm her mind. Instead, she sat in her towel on the closed toilet for a good five minutes, crying silent tears of grief (for Coulson), relief (for Erik and even more for Thor), and anger (at Loki). When her tears stopped, Jane washed her face and seeing it blotchy, red, wet hair clinging to it, she let out one thick, vain laugh at how perfect it would be if Thor bounded in now and saw her like this.

Her phone was still resting on the edge of the sink. Once Jane had dressed, she took a deep breath and clicked on Erik’s message, a video message with a short text attached: _I’m sorry, Jane. I wanted to tell you._

Shaking her head, Jane pressed play.

Thor’s face took up the whole screen and she heard a slightly muffled voice in the background shout, “If you guys had the new Stark VidPhones, that image would a lot clearer.” Thor’s face grew a neck and shoulder as he addressed the unseen speaker. “Quiet!” He turned to back to the screen, addressing Erik, “I can speak to Jane through this?”

Jane’s back hit the bathroom door, and she slid to the floor, staring at the tiny screen.

Erik’s voice came in, sounding tired. “Yeah, just press the red button when you’re done.” Jane watched as the phone was handed off in a blur, and she could hear some muffled voices in the background as Thor lifted the phone to his face. He was holding it a little too close, his chin and forehead touching the edges of her screen. Jane pressed her fingers to her mouth. She might not be done crying.

“Hello, Jane Foster,” he said, his voice no longer the loud gruff tone that he had used before, but the soft and low one from the roof.

She whispered back, “Hi, Thor.”

“I am sorry about having to communicate with you like this, Jane. I had hoped our next meeting had been in person, but the circumstances of this journey to Midgard were most unplanned.” He stopped, and his face fell a little.

Jane traced the line of his frown with a forefinger. She wondered if he’d forgotten the phone was still recording this moment.

“My brother, Loki, survived his fall from the Bifrost and has caused much harm and chaos in your City of New York. Now I must return him back to Asgard, where he can face a proper trial for his actions.” Thor paused, a bleak expression on his face, and Jane’s heart ached for him. “He is broken, Jane. Something has darkened in him and I do not know how to help. I fear—I fear…Jane, I wish I could speak with you…”

“Me too.” God, she wished for that too much.

“I have missed you greatly, and I am sorry that I cannot be where you are, that I have broken my promise to you.” He lowered his voice and brought the phone closer. Jane leaned in, feeling only a little foolish. “I do not know if you have heard about the Son of Coul, but it grieves me to inform you that he has perished in battle. I am sure he is feasting in Valhalla, as I speak, but I must ask you to see to your correspondence. The others do not know, but I had hoped to see you and came with a token. When I realised I would not be able to see you, I asked Philip to relay it. He assured me that he had not long before his demise.”

Thor pulled the phone away from his face and let out a powerful sigh. He was bright and golden as ever, but he looked so weary. The horrible memory of his head in her lap surfaced, and Jane pressed her free hand to her chest. It had been because Loki then, too. He looked tired then, but there had been a light in his eyes that day that was missing now. Jane didn't considered herself to be a very violent person but if she ever met Loki she’d like to toss a heavy something at his head. It probably wouldn’t do much, she knew, but it would make her feel worlds better. Maybe she’d used her car. It had worked on Thor, hadn’t it?

On the tiny screen, Thor smiled. Jane couldn’t help smiling back, the corners of her mouth catching some of her new tears.

“I’ve been told I cannot see you before I return to Asgard. With Loki as unpredictable as he is, I fear it is best for us both to return to Asgard as quickly as possible, but I could not bear the thought of leaving without speaking with you. The methods for our journey are dark and dangerous without the Bifrost, but it is a comfort to know that you have been kept safe and still seek to find a way to bring our worlds together. Until then, Jane. I have not forgotten our agreement. Our deal.” His mouth softened, but it was the look in his eyes made her chest swell. She watched as he fumbled with the phone for a second and the message ended. Jane pressed the phone to her chest and leaned back against the door.

She sat on the floor of the bathroom for a few more seconds before she pushed herself up and tucked her phone into the pocket of her jeans. Thor’s words replayed in her head, and wiping her cheeks, she opened the door to see Darcy still on her bed, now awake. Her eyes were no longer red, just sad.

“You okay, Darce?”

Darcy shook her head and stood. “Nope, you?”

Jane wrapped an arm across Darcy’s shoulder. “Not even a little, but come on, we need to check our mail.”

Darcy’s eyebrow rose high above the rim of her glasses. “Wait what?”

“Yeah, it look we’re still Thor’s favourites after all.”

Darcy sniffled but smiled, resting her head on Jane’s shoulder as they walked out of the room. “Was there ever any doubt?”

Jane thought about the message in her phone and how it was never getting deleted. “I guess not.”

 

_.light_

 

Thor closed the door to his quarters and felt as if the strength he was revered for had left him. Between the battle of the Chitauri and watching his father dole out Loki’s punishment, he felt sick. Having witnessed Loki’s silent rage, Thor knew there was no other option, not after Loki’s actions on Midgard and Jötunheim alike.

Outside his windows, Asgard shone. Night would fall soon, and Manegram would chase Máni across the sky. As exhausted as he felt, however, he knew sleep would be difficult. It had once come easily after battles well won, but he did not feel victorious today.

While he had presented Loki to his father and mother privately, the news of Loki’s imprisonment and return would already be spreading across the realm. Tomorrow, all of Asgard would know. Tomorrow, there would be a call for a feast, to celebrate Thor’s success in capturing Loki, the World Killer, Lie-Smith, Silvertongue. It was as if Asgard did not remember its younger prince at all. Maybe Loki had been right in that he had been a shadow and Thor had not seen it.

He unclasped Mjölnir from his side and set the hammer down its resting place. Járngreipr receded from his arms and his bright cape shimmered out of existence as he moved across his room, shedding the rest of his clothes as he entered his bathing chamber.

The tub was already filled with water charmed to remain warm, just as he liked it. Thor chuckled, sending a silent thanks to his mother. When he’d left for Midgard, she had looked so worried, for him and for Loki, as well. When her gaze rested upon them after their return, mere hours ago, she had cried. She had pried Loki’s mask from his face, and, in that moment, Thor had felt shame for putting it on. In that same moment, before the mother that had raised him, Loki had almost looked found. The younger brother Thor had always known.

The moment had turned to ash a second later at the Allfather’s voice, and what had followed.

Sliding into the water, Thor leaned back against the warm metal. He sighed, sending ripples into the steam rising from the water. He could feel the power in the water wash over him—there was not just a warming charm, then, but a healing stone crushed in the water as well. Yet he still felt ill at ease. The water lapped softly against his neck, and Thor rested his head back on the edge tub, raising his arm, covering his eyes.

There was a weight in his heart, but it didn’t belong solely to Loki.

“Jane.” Her name echoed against the walls and filled him with longing.

 

_.three that-which_

 

“Oh, she woke up.”

“She doesn’t sleep enough.”

“She’ll sleep soon enough.”

Three voices say at once.


	2. .01

> _one by one the nights between our separated cities are joined to the night that unites us._
> 
> The Captain’s Verses, Pablo Neruda

 

 

9 WEEKS LATER

_.teeth and claws_

 

Dromi rattled uncomfortably as he moved. Gleipnir cut into his fur, plucking out the hairs. They grew back almost instantly but the plucking was tiresome and always hurt. The tree was shaking under him and he heard the leaves whisper and those annoying stags say that it was his father’s fault.

He growled at the mention of the pale boy who found him and his sisters in the wood. The sword lodged in his gums—an old wound that always pricked—vibrating against the power of his throat.

Hope, the river, rippled under him. The blood of his gums flowed into it where the sword cut him. It mixed his blood with its water and cut across the land.

He could smell smoke growing thicker in the air even from far away.

The sound of his voice filled the forest and the trees. He did not who he called out for, he never did. No one came anyway.

 

 

_.seeker and scientist_

 

Jane woke. The sound of a wolf howling pulled her out of her light sleep. Her dreams hung in her mind for a second before they drifted away as if chased away by the howl.

It was dark outside and the shadows from the tall trees surrounding the Observatory cast sharp, dark shapes across her floor through her small window. Levering herself up, Jane took a moment to miss the quiet of the desert and her trailer, that tight, tiny space that she had called home for so long. The forest around her now was full of new sounds, mostly wolves and birds. Jane blinked, gazing from her dark ceiling to her window. It was still dark outside and the stars shone brightly against the deep blue-black night. It called her up from her bed.

The readings would be crystal clear tonight.

Still, she missed how it only used to take her five big steps, or eight small ones, from her bed to her trailer door to get outside, the cold sand in her toes and bright stars overhead, the sky waiting for her. She hadn’t meant to love New Mexico, but she had. She hadn’t meant to love Thor, either, but that had to account for the ache in her heart. Here, so far north and away, there’s no easy escape to _outside_.

Her lab was a dream, and she appreciated that, but she was aware of what SHIELD held back. They'd been blocking her access to the data and reports from New York for weeks now. Agent Danvers was nice enough, but she wasn't Phil. Darcy, thankfully, was steadfast at her side, making teasing jokes to get her to laugh, and adamant about tracking anything about the Battle of New York’s heroes, but there was nothing on any of them, save Iron Man. Jane was not surprised and tried not to be bitter, but it wasn’t just about that.

She felt stuck.

The walls weren’t the gleaming windows of New Mexico that at times caused glares so strong that Darcy wore sunglasses while parsing data, but small square things that let little light through. The ceiling in the main observatory opened wide, but otherwise Jane saw so little what was around her. She had grown used to the solitude she had had in New Mexico, with a whole desert to herself, and this facility was like a rude awakening.

In reality, she knew, intellectually, that the Observatory was the perfect place for her to work, but she still felt stifled. Grief for Coulson and concern over Erik had taken root in her and Darcy more deeply than either of them had anticipated. She was worried and frustrated. She was no longer used to working in a setting where she had to share her space and findings with others, and it made her, in Darcy’s words, “snippy.” Jane chose to think of herself as protective of her personal data.

Then, there was Thor.

Thor, who had come and gone and all she had as proof of his return was a half-kept promise in the form of a video message that got too much play when she was alone. (Deal? _warm lips against hers_ Deal.) The sparse account of the events of New York from Erik and SHIELD, and his gift. His token. Only Darcy knew about it, but Jane kept it on her at all times. She pressed her hand to it, unheedingly.

Moving from her bed to the bathroom she showered quickly and made her way to her lab, taking in the silence. Given the early hour, there were only a few SHIELD agents patrolling the halls. Aside from Dr. Lawson, who had scheduled time in the main observatory, nobody else would be up at this time.

Darcy would definitely still be asleep, Erik too, who had only arrived yesterday from his long stay in SHIELD's custody after the events of New York and some time off.

She and Darcy were worried about him. There was a new weight in his eyes, and the dark circles under them seemed tattooed into his skin. He didn’t smile like he used to, either, but they’re trying to be respectful. Darcy even googled PTSD. Jane wasn’t sure how to make things better for him, or even if she could, but she kept an eye on him anyway. She couldn’t wish away having met Thor, but she had the feeling that Erik just might want to. Or at least wished that Loki hadn’t been Thor’s brother.

Sighing, Jane stepped off the elevator into the lab. The space was unsurprisingly empty. She pushed the doors to hers open, wondering when this restless tension she felt between her shoulders would go away. Rolling her neck, she took stock of her equipment. Her main machine, The Big One as Darcy had nicknamed it, still stood half-built and the others were in the stages of rebuilding, based on theories for the Bridge that seemed to be in a constant state of flux as she tried to make sense of Thor’s magic in the language of her science—her own magic.

Did she even have the romantic mindset to think of the world that way?

There were days it felt that she didn’t, and, sometimes, it worried her that was why she was failing. This rankled her in ways she never believed it could. As did the fact that even with all her resources she still felt the answers she sought lied elsewhere. She had only started to make sense of the theories, equations, and words like _world-ash, aurr, Ginnungagap, Ymir of whom the earth was shaped_ , that filled her head. Maybe she lacked magic.

Her stomach twisted at the thought.

 

 

_.light and son_

 

The light of Sol shone heavily across Asgard's golden and crystal spires. Exiting his quarters, Thor made the deliberate turn away from the hall that would lead him to courtyard, whose edges would take him to the stables in which he'd find Gyllir, fed and ready to bare him towards Heimdall. The Gatekeeper would never deny Thor his presence on the Bifrost, but every day that the bridge stood chipped at its edges, wounded and unhealed, ate at Thor.

He did not regret his actions, he told himself, but he wished to have found another way to stop the power of the Bifrost that day. He wanted to offer something more than words of apology to Heimdall for destroying the Gatekeeper's perch, his home. For even with the Tesseract returned to his father's hands, the bridge remained broken. The cube's power continued to prove too unpredictable and dangerous for even the Allfather to wield, so it was returned back to the weapon's vault under heavy guard. Thor thought about others who he had seen try and control the Tesseract's powers and might have possibly used its power to rebuild the Bifrost.

But that control had not been absolute and had come at a price, and he did not want anyone else to have to the pay the price that cube required of those who would try and master it.

In the meantime, Loki's imprisonment was likely not what Thor's allies on Midgard would have hoped or planned for his brother. The glass cage for Banner's Hulk had been adequate but it would not have held Loki long. Truly, it only held Loki when he had wanted to be held, and, even then, they had not secured Loki's most powerful magics. Thor had not spoken of the danger of his brother's words, too used to Loki's sharp tongue, but he should have.

The idea of his brother's mouth stitched shut once more tore at him, but in the end it had been necessary. Though not like the dwarves, never like that, never again, but Thor could still feel the muzzle, heavy in his hands. He had tried to be gentle when slipping the spelled metal over Loki's face. For a moment he had seen his brother as he had always known him, not this new angry and harsh face, but _Loki_ with his familiar green eyes, wide and nervous. They both had remembered the dwarves in that moment. But Loki's look quickly changed and Thor had made sure the straps of leather woven with magic were secure and did not bite into his brother's pale skin.

Still, Thor felt guilty for how dark and empty Loki's eyes had looked as he stabbed the Son of Coul and then pushed the button dropping Thor into the sky. It was hard to admit, even now, that it had been the latter that had surprised Thor more.

Thinking of the glass cage that had held both Sons of Odin, he wondered if he had ever truly believed that it would have held Loki in the end.

It wouldn't have, Thor thought.

Loki, who now laid stripped of his powers, his magic buried and bound, untouchable within his own flesh. Thor's guilt twisted into heartache. He had not forgotten what it felt like to feel that weak and unsure in his own body, being able to feel the power of Midgard's thunder, and Mjölnir's fierceness, all just out of reach. He had felt lost, more so after Loki's visit, and it had been only when he had seen Jane's notebook, and grabbed it, that he felt some of his purpose regained. He could help, if not himself and his family, he could help Jane. Jane who had helped him in more ways than she knew.

It was different for Loki. Loki, who was tucked away deep in the palace where he refused visits from Thor and their mother. Thor saw how this hurt their mother and at times wished Loki would agree to speak to him if only so Thor could tell him to stop being a stubborn boar.

He knew better than to ask for Loki to even consider giving their father an audience. Odin's punishment mere seconds after calling Loki "son" had been difficult to watch, and no doubt more so for Loki to experience. But unlike Thor, who had been shocked and wide-eyed when Odin Allfather cast him out to Midgard, Loki himself stood silent and stone faced. The only sign of discomfort at his punishment had been the sweat at his temple and the clenching of his jaw as the rune was pushed into him, binding all that made Loki Loki away in his own body.

Their father knew his sons and knew how to make them ache. All parents do, Thor mused as he recalled Sif's struggles with her own parents.

Thor hadn't believed he would have new reason to hold resentment towards his father once returning from his own banishment. Finding out the details of Loki's ascent to the throne and his brother's true parentage made him reevaluate this opinion, if only privately. There were times Thor even believed he could understand his father's choices, his mother's choice in supporting him. But he always returned to Loki calling himself a monster and denying him as brother in tones Thor never thought he would have heard from his younger sibling.

Walking across the halls he and Loki used to run across as children, Thor wished so many things had turned out differently. Or at least that he might have understood the loneliness his brother suffered before this truth about himself splintered him. Maybe if he had seen Loki's dissatisfaction, if he had seen how his brother suffered in shadows that Thor had been unaware of, maybe things might have changed.

But no, there could be no regret in Thor for his actions on the Bifrost that day, he repeated to himself.

He had done what he had to. He only regretted that he had not prevented the whole ordeal from coming to the fruition it had.

Perhaps he might have changed Heimdall's answer to his near daily question. As it was the answer didn't change much. Jane still searched. There were days he received anecdotes on Jane's progress and sometimes there were even traces of amusement in the gatekeeper's voice as he spoke of her. According to the herald, she was still in the place called Tromsø, tirelessly trying to find a way to reconnect their two worlds again. To hear she did not give up, even after so long, that she wore his token everyday since it arrived for her, was a balm on Thor's heart.

He had been the right to bring the Tesseract back to Asgard. SHIELD did not understand the intricacies of the object, nor the power it wielded or how to wield it. But, Thor thought of Jane. It was a selfish notion, though, and one he kept to himself. Perhaps he was simply desperate to see her face again, be sure she was truly well. He had believed Coulson's assurances of her safety, but it was not enough. Patience had never been a virtue he possessed, even though he was trying to learn. He was only grateful that both Heimdall and Coulson were honourable men.

He also did not think that Heimdall could make up half the things he recounted to Thor with regards to Jane and Darcy—apparently one's Facebook Account was a sacred thing though it did not seem SHIELD was of the same mind.

With a heavy heart, Thor returned to the palace. With his thoughts turning back to Jane, his resolve almost broke and tempted him to walk back towards the stables, but Thor kept his feet on the path towards his mother's balcony. She tried to see Loki yesterday and had not been welcomed. Her normally shining eyes dulled each time this occurred, and Thor felt no sympathy towards his brother for that.

She sat by her weaving when he arrived, a soft wind played with her hair, loose today. Her curls swept over her shoulders shiny and feather soft. When she weaved, Thor would swear she became younger, her features closer to how she looked when he was a small boy under the magic she used while working. As a young boy, he had lacked the patience to sit and watch her; it had always been Loki who would settle himself by their mother's legs with a thick tome and stay with her for hours. Thor would come up on the scene often when in search for his brother for sparring and games. For a second, watching his beloved mother, he felt as if he was a young boy again. Perhaps Loki was only inside, getting their mother a drink, and everything was as it used to be.

He knew better though, and the imagined scene disappeared. Walking towards his mother, he bent to kiss her head. Her curls tickled his nose.

"Seems you've caught me still working, my son," she murmured. Her fingers never paused in their quick work as she smiled up at Thor. It was a smile still brighter than the light of Sol, who drove her chariot across Asgard each day.

"I am early, Mother," he said, turning towards the table and pouring them each a glass of sweet wine. He took a deep drink of his, grinning widely at his mother when she levelled him with a look that spoke volumes about her opinion on his manners. Thor winked at her, making her laugh, and quick the work of her fingers slowed to a pause to take the offered glass.

Thor sat and watched the slim, strong fingers of his mother's as they held the delicate stem of her wine glass. One of her rings clinked against the crystal as she set the glass down on the small table next to her before going back to her work. She was a powerful woman, but her power was so carefully folded into her body that sometimes he forgot. And as if she was reading his mind, a theory on their mother he and Loki never did dismiss, she turned to him, her eyes shining and lips curling.

"You did not go to see Heimdall today," she said, fingers finally stopping. His mother's attendants, who had been hovering in the corners, glided on to the balcony ready to remove his mother's loom the second she was done. By the time she reached the table where he sat, her loom was gone, but Thor still felt the heavy magic in her hands as she brushed his hair back, an old habit, before she sat.

Thor immediately stood and pulled her chair out for her. They shared a soft, fond look for they missed how things used to be—Loki had done this for her almost exclusively before. There's no guilt or shame in either's eyes at the acknowledgment, merely sadness.

"I did not feel right riding out to the Bifrost today."

His mother's attendants fluttered through, settling platters of food on the table and two plates in front of them, before slipping back to their posts again. Thor nodded his thanks, as his mother dismissed the girls with a warm smile.

"You still make my attendants nervous," Frigga said, plucking a fat grape from its stem. "Even more so than before."

Thor blinked, grabbing some salted cheese form one of the platters, "I do not understand why. They were never quite so nervous before."

His mother arched one perfect brow. "Are you so sure?" Thor felt the back of his neck heat up.

Frigga laughed, reaching out to cup his cheek. "You've never been so humble as you've recently become. I must admit, I do enjoy it. It reminds me when you were but a sapling, still smaller than I. Though you were never shy. I do not believe you could ever be."

"But I haven't been smaller than you in centuries, Mother," he grinned.

"Cheeky boy," she said warmly, making his grin widen. "My observation still stands. You have matured a great deal recently, my son, and you've made me so proud. But still I worry. You seem so very melancholy at times."

"Mother…"

"At first we all mourned and now…," Frigga trailed off, looking towards to the east where Loki was held, and sighed. Thor reached over and covered one of his mother's hand with his own. It overlapped hers completely. He had forgotten it could. She gave him a gentle smile, her palm turning under his hand, curling their fingers around together. "Now, we seem to still mourn, but you, my son, even more so than before. The weight on your shoulder seems only greater since your return from Midgard."

"I am gladdened that Loki is alive, even if now my brother seems only to shroud himself in darkness and hate of me."

Frigga's lips curved down, the hand under his now moving to cover it. "Loki does not hate you, Thor."

She still was so gentle when minding his hurts, Thor thought, and had a burst of affection for her. His fingers tightened under hers. She squeezed back.

"Mother, you did not see the way he looked upon me in Midgard. Never has even an enemy looked at me that way."

Frigga sighed, "There is much anger in him, that I do not doubt. I fear he will let it consume him, if only to fuel himself, but your brother's ire is not the only weight you carry."

Thor eyes flitted to the edge of Asgard, where he could see the cosmos meeting the horizon, "I made promises and I fear I might not keep them. I—The Bifrost still stands broken and I know I hold responsibility as much as Loki. Yet, everyday, I walk to its edge and ask Heimdall for the answer to a question that only makes me think more about how I might have prevented its destruction."

It was the first Thor had spoken of his misgivings about the choices he had made. His shoulders felt lighter.

His mother smiled gently.

"You have grown so much, Thor," she said, bringing up her other hand to touch his cheek. The hum of her magic under her soft skin washed over him, soothing. "That day you made the only choice you could at the time."

"Yet it does not feel it as if it was enough."

"Oh, my son, for all your years and recent trials, you are still so young. I know it does not feel like it, but you did the right thing. You saved a world, and I am proud of you."

"And broke a promise in doing so." He slipped his hand from where it laid under his mother's, crossing his arms. His left hand rubbed the crease of his right elbow, uneasy. He tried to keep his voice even, but he'd never had secrets from his mother. "And upon my return I still did not keep my word."

"Oh, Thor, I'm sure she understood there was reason for your delay." Frigga turned to him, face ever gentle and loving.

His mother was right. He had received the confirmation of the fact from Heimdall and Selvig, but he still longed for Jane. To see her, to touch her face, to whisper the words that he had imagined sharing with her since he left her in the desert.

As time passed and he remained in Asgard, a small part of him worried that her affections towards him would diminish, that they had been powerful but momentary, that one day Heimdall would tell him she had stopped searching, while each day he longed for her more. Loki's presence on Midgard had added worry to his longing. His brother's angry words towards Jane remained unforgotten. Thor had raged against his father to be sent back as soon as they had heard. Then it seemed Loki had bypassed Jane altogether, a great relief, but in dealing with his brother's actions and the battle, he'd not had the chance to even exchange a word with her. His recorded missive had not been enough, and since he returned to Asgard his thoughts were filled with Jane even more so than before. He had been so close.

Not wanting to burden his mother any longer Thor smiled and nodded his agreement. "I do not doubt her, Mother. It is only a selfish wish of mine to see her."

Frigga's lips curved with a secret wisdom, as Thor's always known them to, and she reached for one of the apples on the platters, slicing it delicately, each piece folding back onto the plate like a flower petal. "Wishes, for our people, are complicated matters, my son."

Thor watched his mother's hand and her smile, and in them he saw a hint of something he did not understand. He stole a piece of the sliced apple, and his mother tutted at him affectionately. The slice crunched under his teeth. It was sweet and bold in his mouth. He thought of Jane.

 

 

_.of the wood_

 

It was the clatter of plates that brought Jane's attention back to her surroundings. Looking up from the dizzying spiral of her own notes, she lifted her lips into a smile. Darcy dropped a tray of what looked like half the cafeteria's breakfast stock. It wasn't particularly surprising that Darcy had managed to get away with all this food. Darcy made friends and allies everywhere she went.

"Geez, Jane, how long have you been at it?" Darcy asked, walking over to the coffee machine and eyed the amount Jane already consumed.

Jane shrugged, touching her stomach as it rumbled at the smell of food. "Couldn't sleep; figured I might as well do some work." It was honest enough that she didn't feel bad about not mentioning her restless dreams.

"So in other words you've been here for hours."

Jane eyed the selection before her and settled on a large cheese Danish. The whirr of the coffee machine started up behind her.

"Stars are brightest at night, Darce, and the Borealis is at its peak in the early mornings here."

"You still think they're connected to," Darcy twirled her finger in the air, pointing up, as she grabbed their mugs.

"I think they're related, yes. Maybe they're not the answer but," Jane leaned back in her chair at her desk, the Danish already chasing away the hunger she'd hadn't noticed she was feeling. "What do you think when you look at one of the Borealis here?"

"Pretty?" Darcy grinned, pouring the coffee. Jane rolled her eyes. Darcy sighed, knowing what the answer Jane was looking for was. "Rainbows. Pretty space rainbow."

"Exactly, but what if that's not all they are?" Jane asked as Darcy handed her a freshly brewed cup of coffee. Her mind was already turning back to her latest notes. Maybe Thor had been right all along when he spoke of rainbow bridges. She grinned to herself.

The theory had bounced around her mind for weeks now, taking her back to the basics of her early work, mapping the Borealis that had appeared in New Mexico. The results had been unlike others she had witness before, seemingly random, but with a distinct energy pattern; the geomagnetic storms she had been charting at the time had increased the visibility of the energy particles in the New Mexican sky. At the time it had been a curiosity, an interesting detail, but now she wondered if she had indeed been charting Thor's Rainbow Bridge for months, before she had understood what it was.

The Aurora Borealis and Australis were, after all, celestial phenomena that had been occurring in Earth's sky longer than humans had looked up at it. The Auroras were as old as Earth itself, and Jane was starting to believe there was a reason for them outside what science had taught her.

 _More like a Rainbow Bridge_ , Thor had said. He then described the crystal runway that served as Asgard's physical representation of the Bifrost that they used to travel between the realms.

What if Earth had been seeing the edges of this bridge for centuries, not fully understanding what it was?

The bridge linked the worlds, as Thor explained, and was made of powerful and ancient energy, and all energy left traces. Jane noted the low levels of gamma radiation at the opening of the Bifrost. They were nothing approaching the levels of whatever had occurred in New York, but still present. Looking at the sky for months on end, looking at the Borealis, she was starting to believe that the bridge left other traces that rippled out into space and reflected back down on Earth.

"Hey, boss lady, you wanna fill me in the on the rest of that sentence?" Darcy's voice snapped Jane back to attention, and she blinked. Oh, right she had been talking to Darcy about it.

"Sorry, got side-tracked. What was I saying?"

"The Borealis, not just pretty space rainbows."

Chuckling lightly, Jane took a sip of her coffee. "Right. What if they're reflections? You know how prisms work, right?"

"I remember fourth grade science and Pollyanna." Darcy sat on her chair and rolled over, the tray of food in her lap, and handed Jane an apple.

Jane took it, still hungry and amused by Darcy's constant attention to her food intake. She bounced the apple it in her hands for second before answering.

"Well, then you remember how you can make little rainbows form when you put a prism to a light source." Darcy nodded. "What if the Borealis are just that? Rainbows we see pass through the Bridge as light—its crystal pathway. Thor described it to me before he left and everything I know takes you part of the way there. To the point it can be understood, but after that point…" Jane took a bite of the apple, a little juice dribbling down her chin. Darcy reached automatically to wipe it, and Jane continued, not even pausing at the action. "Our science is nothing like theirs. Thor would talk about it like it was more poetry than fact."

"So you're trying to become a poet?"

Jane shrugged, "Who knows? Maybe. Either way, the Borealis—I think it might be the reflections we get as energy passes through the Bridge. The particles in our atmosphere pick up on the energy and prism it to us."

"And how does that help us?"

Jane stood and wiped her hands, sticky with the juices from the apple, on her jeans. "It tells me that that the bridge isn't completely lost to us, or to Thor, because we still see the Borealis, don't we? The Einstein-Rosen Bridge, the wormhole—it's still here, but it's just inaccessible to us and to him." Jane stood, her mind spinning.

"And we're what, gonna patch up a wormhole? Give good old Yggdrasil some Miracle-Gro so Thor can shimmy down it Beanstalk style?" Darcy jumped up, the tray rattling slightly on the desk as she set it down, following Jane.

Jane didn't respond. Her eyes shone as she gathered up her new notes and moved to the whiteboard, her notebook firmly in her hands like an anchor. "We're going to do more than that, we're going to make it accessible to us. We're going to reconstruct it and it's opening."

"Shit, Jane, is that even safe? Or possible?" Darcy's voice filtered between Jane's already rushing thoughts and she paused.

No, was the first answer that flashed through her mind at Darcy's question. _It would not be safe at all._

Darcy while having spent now near two years with Jane, still wasn't an astrophysicist. She stuck around for reasons of her own and because Jane needed her. Darcy had been there when Thor fell from the sky and changed not only Jane's life, but her work. The direction it was going became sharpened and honed after his arrival, and subsequent departure, and Darcy understood that better than most people. She was also creative, intuitive, with a good eye for patterns, and solid at math for a poli-sci major.

Still there were some intricacies of the science that went over Darcy's head and this was one of them. For a moment,Jane was glad that Erik hadn't shown up in the lab yet. He would have understood exactly what she planned to do. He would have fought with her over it. He would fight with her when he found out, but for now, it's just Darcy.

Jane considered lying to Darcy, but it wouldn't work anyway. She was a pretty good bullshit spotter. Instead, Jane uncapped her black markers and turned to the board, making sure Darcy couldn't see her face. Jane's eyes always gave her away, she'd been told. By Darcy.

"Don't worry, it's not like we're planning to be call down a race of aliens to destroy the planet." It's not a full-out "no", but it's definitely not a "yes", either. It was the most honest answer she had to give.

Behind her she heard Darcy move around the lab, getting to work, muttering, "Of course not, that was last season's drama." Jane wanted to smile at that, but she found she couldn't. In front of her, black marks covered clear board. She swallowed. Building a wormhole wasn't anything like opening a portal to a race of hostile aliens. She hoped.

 

-

 

A week later Erik looked at her specs, and sighed. Jane's stomach twisted.

The theory had built up inside her for months and now the math was almost workable. Even so, something was missing. She could feel the edges of what it's meant to be—something magical. It was meant to be magic, grounded in the language of science, but she couldn't find the science she needed to complete the circle.

She didn't have magic, only science, despite how Thor described the two things. She wondered if the Tesseract might have helped her. From what Erik told her, and what she saw from New York, she already guessed the answer, but the look on Erik's face stopped her from wishing she had been the one working on the project.

His face looked the oldest it ever had to Jane. His months with SHIELD and then those days with Loki have aged him about fifty years and they all shadowed his eyes. They weren't the bright and curious eyes Jane remembered seeing growing up. She didn't want to lose Erik, but she needed this.

"I can't help you with this, Jane," he said, dropping the papers on the desk.

"Erik—" she began. He couldn't give up; not on her, on this.

He rubbed his face, leaning back in his chair, reaching for his tea. "Jane. I—You don't understand, Jane. I don't think I can help you any more with this. This is just beyond me." He waved to the tablet and paper she had given him. "This is brilliant, or insane, and you shouldn't do it. It's too theoretical still and way too dangerous, but I know that won't stop you. It wouldn't have stop me, once. It didn't stop me—"

"Erik, that was different. That was Loki—"

He flinched at Loki's name. "Maybe it was, but even before, all those months with SHIELD I knew how dangerous it was, and I still pushed forward, because what they wanted me to do was groundbreaking."

"I'm not doing this for SHIELD." Jane said, stiffening her jaw. And she wasn't. This had been her work long before SHIELD and even Thor, and she didn't intend to give it up on it.

Erik's eyes softened. Jane was reminded to when she was a young girl and he would watch over her while her father worked, entertaining a tiny four, six, eight, ten year-old girl who was more interested in the numbers on the boards than the ones in her schoolbooks. He had always been the one telling her to never stop pushing at her boundaries.

"Jane," he smiled softly.

"I have nobody else, Erik." It was the hardest thing to face. SHIELD kept her on because of what she knew, because of Thor, but otherwise she'd just be another scientist in New Mexico mapping the sky. If they had once wanted her to rebuild the bridge they didn't seem interested anymore. Had they even been in the first place? With the aftermath of the Battle of Manhattan, as it was being called, global politics were tense and the last thing anyone wanted was an Einstein-Rosen Bridge that might conceivably open Earth up to another attack. Jane understood that; she didn't wish what happened in New York to ever happen again, on anyone.

But she was so close. Her fingers itched at how close she was, and it felt like SHIELD was closing the door on her.

"I think you need to call New York." Erik sounded resigned.

Jane rolled her eyes. "Every SHIELD scientist that's seen this hasn't understood even the basics of what I'm trying to do."

"I wasn't talking to about SHIELD."

"Then—"

"Remember when I told you about my colleague who got tangled up with SHIELD?"

"Yeah, on the roof, back in New Mexico."

"I was talking about Bruce Banner."

"Bruce Banner—" Jane stuttered. Erik hadn't told them much of what happened in New York. Only bits and pieces, but she recognised the name. Bruce Banner. The Hulk. She knew all about Dr. Banner's early work in gamma radiation—used some of his research to refine her own work. She also knew about Culver. It happened right in the middle of her week with Thor. Erik had just missed being there himself having flown out to see her. All the connections make her head spin a little. She took in a slow breath. Count to ten, she heard Darcy's voice in her head. Five. "And he's in New York?"

Having someone like Dr. Banner help her would be invaluable, but the Hulk… That was a hell of a variable.

A wry smile appeared on Erik's face, "Tony Stark gave me his card before I left. I kept it. Banner's laying low with him last I heard." Erik fumbled around in one of his desk drawers and grabbed for his wallet. Opening it, he pulled out— _was that a digital card?_

Jane looked at the small, see-through, clearly expensive piece of tech in her hand and eyed it curiously, swiping her fingers over the surface. It responded to her touch. Jane emitted an impressed oh! as numbers were suddenly scrolling across the card's surface. Tony Stark's name glowed in small blue letters. She felt more settled than she had in days. She didn't want to classify the new feeling as hope, but it was a close thing.

She looked back up to Erik. He looked so old. He had always been this much older than her?

Touching her shoulder, he said, "I can't—I don't think I can be any more help to you, Jane, but I think Stark and Banner can."

"Erik," she touched the hand at her shoulder. "Thank you." In her other hand her fingers closed around the card.

 

 

. _thunderer_

 

Jarnvior was uncommonly quiet as Thor rode through it, the wolves and troll-wives silent. The only sounds were the leaves rustling in the wind and his steed's hooves on the ground. He had spent most of the morning riding through the wood's tall and twisted trees, once said to had shared its leaves with Midgard. It was also said that Angrboða, who favoured the wood, took saplings down and planted them around in Midgard's lands. He was curious to know if she survived in the ruins of Jötunheim.

It was another day he avoided heading down to the Bifrost's edge. Around him Asgard felt like a cage, and his father's words denying his return to Midgard after bringing Loki back home still rang in his head.

Opening the paths, the Allfather said had been a risk. The fact that Thor had made it to Midgard was the result of luck more than skill, and his return with Loki had only been possible by the harnessing of the Tesseract. Both journeys had been unsettling, to say the least, and Thor had been left with the sensation of his skin being stretched too tight over muscle and the magic protecting them biting into his bones. The Tesseract had hummed around them, so blue and thick, with such power that Thor felt as if it lived.

When they had appeared in Asgard in front of Hlidskjalf, Odin had stood in wait, Gungnir in his hand. Frigga, Allmother, at his side. Loki had hissed at them all behind his mask. Mother's tears had fallen silent the whole time, even as she removed Loki's mask with trembling fingers. Loki had not looked at her in the eye.

After Loki had been taken away, his magic bound, Odin had said, "I can see the question and desire to return in your eyes, Thor, but it is impossible. The cube will be placed under guard, away from those who would use it to harm. We cannot use these paths again."

Thor had looked away from his father.

"I have made promises to the people of Midgard, father," he had said, and had thought, _To Jane_.

"I will not open those paths once more," Odin had said, reminding Thor of Commander Fury's equally singular and cutting gaze, "Once was already too much."

Thor had not liked the feeling those words left in his stomach, nor how they reverberated in his mind now. Pushing Gyllir across the edge of the Jarnvior, towards where Asgard stood bright, Thor heard the whispers of the Iárnvidia in the leaves. He could not make out the words; instead they sounded like branches breaking. The wind-words followed him as he left the ironwood, unsettling.

As he reached the stables he saw the unmistakable form of Sif waiting. "You are late for training," she said, from her spot at the stable doors.

Thor dismounted Gyllir, and waved off the approaching groomsmen. He liked doing the unbridling and unsaddling of the horse himself. "I went for a ride."

"Clearly. I had Hogun begin at any rate, if you listen closely you can hear Fandral's curses."

He chuckled, "Thank you, Sif. I did not mean to lose track of time."

Sif stayed by the door, sword glinting at her side. "It is not like you to go riding to clear your mind," she said, face somber. Then, the edges of her lips sharpened into a smirk. "Then again I've never thought there was much in there to clear."

Thor laughed, "You grow wittier by the day, Lady Sif."

She grinned, all teeth, leaning on frame of the stable doors as Thor turned back to properly unsaddle Gyllir. She left him to work in silence for a few seconds. There was not a time he did not remember having Loki at his side, but there were only a scant few years he could recall before Sif came into their life, slight, blunt, and ripping her dresses as she climbed trees with them when she was not supposed to. For years after it was only the three of them. Those were years long past, but they had taught him Sif's moods as well as he thought to have known Loki's. She was preparing to speak her piece.

"You did not go to my brother today. You did not go yesterday either." He glanced at her, through the holes of the stables. Her arms were crossed on her chest, her lips a thin line.

"I was not aware that I was meant to." It came out harder that he planned it too, but he did not apologise for his tone.

Sif's scoffed, "Maybe not 'meant to', but it's become something of an endearing habit we've all come to appreciate. 'Oh, where's Thor, he's late for training. Where's Thor, he's late to supper. Have you seen Thor today?' The answer is always being, 'Must still be with Heimdall.' Your changing of the pattern today has thrown a great many of us."

"And it seems that with Loki imprisoned, you've decided to take up his mantle of words."

Even as he spoke, he knew it was the wrong thing to say, and winced. Throughout the years of friendship, the relationship between his brother and Sif had gone through many changes, even before Loki fell and became lost to them. Thor could not picture as it had once been, but he knew that for all their differences a bond remained. She had too mourned Loki's presumed death. His words were spoken carelessly and they'd stung Sif.

"Sif, I'm—" he began, finishing with Gyllir and stepping towards her. He wiped his hands on his leathers hastily, fingernails dirty. Sif still stood at the doors, half in shadows. Her profile cut a sharp contrast against the light of outside.

"Don't apologise." Her voice was as sharp as a blade, like the look in her eyes. Green blades, not emerald bright like Loki's, they were warmer in hue and countenance, but they still cut deeply.

Once people had thought Sif to be his twin, with her golden hair and light eyes, but that had not lasted long. After her hair grew back darker than night she mirrored Loki. Thor would never say it aloud, but the gold had not suited her. It had dulled her sharpness, whereas the shadow of her dark hair only made it fiercer. He did not enjoy that sharpness turned on him, however.

"You do not carry impatience well, Thor, it colours your words."

He frowned. "I did not mean—"

"I know very well what you meant. Your irritation with the current state of the realm has not gone unnoticed."

"It is not only that," he murmured.

Sif softened, barely. "I know."

She tilted her head and the edges of her lips curled. Teasing or sympathetic, he could not tell. "You are aware that we all thought it would have been a passing fancy. That one day you would stop going to Heimdall to ask over her, and while you have it is not because you've forgotten to. But just the opposite, is it not?"

He glanced at her, "Heimdall's answer does not change, and neither does the state of the Bifrost. It only pains me further to see it unchanged, to know Heimdall can see more than I." Thor walked out of the stables, heading towards the training grounds.

"I never thought I would see the day someone would be jealous of my brother's post," Sif said as fell into step beside him. They walked in silence for a few moments. "Is her mortality what troubles you? To be kept away and waiting, without knowing when you can return?"

The words were unexpected and he felt a dangerous stillness fill him. He gave his oldest friend his own sharp look. She did not falter in her steps. Shock overtook him, slowly, stemming not from anger but from the truth that Sif spoke. Jane's mortality was not something he often pondered. Mortality was a notion beneath Asgard's concern, but it was something intrinsic to all those of Midgard. Yet Thor did not feel the same ache and pull to see his new allies and friends. The notion of not seeing them, possibly ever again, should the Bifrost take years to repair was bearable. The notion of not seeing Jane was not.

Thor had never known anyone to die of something simple as old age. Every death he had known in his life was battle-earned. It was the way of Asgard. Thor would never wish any of his friends deaths, but he knew that would be how they would choose to enter Valhalla one day. On Midgard he had told Sif to run and fight another day, but one day it wouldn't be so. One day Valhalla would open its doors for Sif and the Warriors Three. Thor hoped for that day to be far in the future with the same fervour he wished for his return to Midgard and Jane to be swift.

More than one year had already passed in Asgard, far longer than he had planned when he made his promise to Jane, touching her slim fingers to his lips. And while that was next to nothing in the Realm Eternal it could mean everything on Midgard, as his brother had demonstrated.

Never had the passage of time felt like a burden and losing Jane to something as ordinary as time was unfathomable to him, unnatural even to him. "Your words are wise, Sif," he said as they neared the practice yard in lieu of a proper answer.

Sif let it pass. Her smile, soft and indulgent, caught him off guard, but like that he knew he was forgiven for his previous thoughtless words.

"Another thing I felt the need to pick up from the lack off."

Thor chuckled.

As they arrived at the training circle Fandral caught sight of them and called out. Hogan used his distraction to knock him off his feet. Fandral's curses were colourful as always, even as he smiled and waved them closer.

Thor clasped a hand on Sif's shoulder in silent thanks for their conversation, and moved forward to take Fandral's place. He was in need of clearing his mind, and Sif was right earlier: the ride had not helped.

Thor rolled his shoulders, squaring them, and stepped into his fighting stance. Hogun did the same. They circled each other for a beat before Thor struck out. Hogun was quick to evade him, and all else melted away in the haze of combat. For a few small moments Thor was back to being sure of everything in his world.

Hours laters, Volstagg's swing went wide. Thor side-stepped it with practiced ease, ducking under the man's thick arm and drove his elbow into Volstagg's neck. The larger man stumbled forward with a grunt, but was already turning as Thor prepared his next move.

They traded punches and blocks for several dizzying minutes, each trying to get the upper hand. His spar with Hogun had ended quickly, as they usually did. The silent man bested him in the second hour. It was not unusual for Hogun to beat him; he and Sif they kept Thor humbled with their speed.

Across the yard they were currently engaged in a three way spar with Fandral. Hogun's mace, Sif's glaive, and Fandral's sword made clashing sounds that served as background to his and Volstagg's fight.

Once it would have been a four way fight, with partners, two on each side. Thor shook off the memory as one of Volstagg's fist came a little too close to his nose.

"Distracted, my prince?" Volstagg said, "Or have I tired you out?"

Thor chuckled, striking forward, "It is you who seems winded, my friend."

Volstagg scoffed, winding his arm to push Thor back, but his breath was heavier than it had been when they began. Thor was nearly breathless himself, and they fought without words for the next few minutes until the bout finished. Thor's upper-cut clipped Volstagg on the chin at just the right angle sending stumbling him backwards, and before he regained his footing Thor levelled another hit at the soft skin just under Volstagg's armpit. The larger man's mass hitting ground echoed slightly under Volstagg's a resounding "oof".

Thor grinned, offering his hand. "Yield?"

Volstagg glared, and then laughed heartily. "Yield. You are still too quick for me, Thor." He slapped a heavy hand across Thor's back. The sting of Volstagg's wide palm did not fade as instantly as one would think.

"You are the only one to say that," Thor said, smiling and looking to the others' bout. The clash of metal hadn't slowed since they started. Thor fingers itched for Mjölnir. He rarely liked being on the outside of a fight, but it was interesting to see how the others moved.

On Midgard, the Captain had directed them in battle against the Chitauri. Even Thor had followed the Captain's commands, swift and assertive as they came. On Asgard, Thor and his friends had fought together so long they already knew their places on the battlefield by route. They knew each others' strengths, weaknesses, and where to be when one needed aide. He had led them into many glorious battles but never truly commanded them. They followed him into battles and adventures because they trusted him, because he was their friend and prince, but did they truly believe in his command?

A king should know how to command his troops, should he not? Even when they were friends. But his friends never really had the need for him to direct them and that was an odd and uncomfortable revelation to have.

"Shall we use weapons now?" Volstagg asked, abruptly interrupting his thoughts.

Thor blinked and looked at his friend. He was the only one larger than Thor. The only other who used a heavy, blunt, weapon. Volstagg disliked sparring with the others, especially hand-to-hand, because their speed made him feel slow and clumsy, but he was anything but when the time called for him to lift up his axe. Volstagg was a wall that not many got past. In battle he held their ground. Thor was the only opponent that ever truly beat him, and had, which was how they had become friends.

He took too long to answer and Volstagg eyed him curiously. "Are you well, Thor?"

Smiling, Thor clasped his shield-brother's shoulder. "You are worthy opponent, Volstagg the Valiant."

Volstagg's cheeks reddened slightly. "Not many people call me by that name these days." He patted his wide stomach for effect.

Thor held Volstagg's shoulder tighter, "I do, and always shall."

A gentle smile bloomed and Volstagg nodded back, a silent understand passing between them. Volstagg, Sif had confided in him, had been the one to defend Loki even when they others could not anymore. Thor had not asked why, and did not feel it was his place to speculate, though it had been good to hear.

"So, weapons?" Volstagg asked again. This time Thor was listening and had his answer ready. "Weapons."

As he began crossing the practice yard to where Mjölnir rested, a page stepped into the yard, bowing to Thor. The fight behind him slowed to a stop, and he felt his friends move behind him.

"My prince, pardon my interruption," the slight man said, eyes darting behind Thor nervously, "The Allfather requires your presence in the war room."

That was not the message Thor expected. His presence in the war room was a rare thing. The planning of the battle had never been his strong suit, and over the last millennia, the room itself had not seen much use. No true war had touched the Nine Realms in centuries. Thor tried to temper the surprise he felt. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw the others did not even try. Sif's brows were raised, eyes wide. The Warriors Three had stiffened at the words, Fandral near slack-jawed. At his pointed look their faces shifted quickly back into more neutral guises.

He looked back to the page, his face carefully blank. "Tell my father I will be there shortly, I require a change of attire."

In his room, Thor changed quickly into a fresh pair of trousers and his daily armour. He considered his cape and summoning Járngreipr for his arms, but was unsure if the situation merited them and did not want to seem presumptuous. Mjölnir, faithfully at his side, cinched to Megingjörð, would be enough.

He ran his thumb over the leather of the handle as he walked towards the war room. His footsteps sounded too loud in his ears.

Reaching the tall golden doors, carved with scenes from the battle between his father and Ymir, Grandfather to all Jötunn, Thor tried not to think of Loki as he pushed them open.

Inside Odin looked up from where he was bent over at large table. His generals surrounded him, all standing. Thor recognised some. "Thor, my son, come, we have much to discuss." Odin said, an order. The doors closed behind Thor. They were not loud and did not bang shut. They closed quietly, like a whisper from Hel.


	3. .02

_.midgard assembling_

 

"Dr. Foster, it's a pleasure to meet you." The woman addressing her was tall, willowy, with bright red hair and a curve to her lips that was not quiet a smile. "I'm Pepper Potts, and I hear you're in the business of wormholes."

Out of all the results to come from her email to Dr. Banner, more specifically Tony Stark, Jane had not expected this one. She had honestly expected a lot more hoop-jumping before she got a response. Yet, the next morning, after a night of not sleeping again (and she wasn't blind to the worried looks that Eric and Darcy sent her way), there was an email in her inbox.

An answering equation to the one she sent (she had needed to get their attention _somehow_ ) with a short and slightly confusing message, the names Tony Stark and Bruce Banner tucked at the bottom. That had been four days ago.

Jane pulled herself out of her surprise and reached out to shake Pepper Potts' hand. Pepper's lips only curved further as she shook Jane's hand.

"Dr. Jane Foster, nice to meet you," Jane tilted her head, "you're the secret weapon?"

 _Smooth, Foster. Smooth_ , Jane thought, cringing.

Pepper Potts, CEO of Stark Industries, only laughed. "Is that what Tony called me?"

"The email only said: We're sending a plane. Don't worry about Fury, we have a secret weapon."

"Well, then I guess it _is_ me." Pepper adjusted her bag and looked over Jane's lab. Her heels clicked sharply on the floor and Jane took a moment to appreciate the footwear before rushing after her. From her desk, Darcy eyes looked like they're about to pop out of her head. Jane motioned her to get back to work. Darcy stuck her tongue out at Jane, turning back to the new data. 

"This is all yours?" Pepper asked, leaning close to one of her boards, peering interestedly at her equations. 

"The boards? Or the math?"

Pepper turned back to Jane, her bangs shifting perfectly over her forehead. Jane didn't know bangs could do that. 

"I meant the equipment, but yes, I guess I am talking about your work, too." A perfectly manicured gently tapped the board, making sure she only touched a blank spot.

"The math's me," Jane said, struggling to keep her voice gentle. "There's a couple things SHIELD gave to us, and a few of the computers are the Observatory's but the rest is all mine."

Moving away from the board, Pepper's eyes roamed the lab. "Built most of it yourself?"

"Uh, yes, why do—how did—"

"You got very protective when I suggested it might not be yours." Pepper grinned. "And I have experience with geniuses that have personal attachments to machines."

Feeling her neck heat up, Jane twisted her fingers in the front of her shirt. "I didn't mean to sound rude."

"It's fine, trust me when I say I'm used to much worse." Pepper waved her off and clicked her way to the The Big One. Jane had just finished rebuilding the machine earlier in the week. She sucked in a breath. Pepper reached out to touch the metal but stopped short of touching it. Her fingers hovered over the dials. Jane relaxed and Pepper looked suddenly amused. "Oh yeah, I think you'll fit in with the boys just fine."

"I'm sorry, what?" Jane blinked. 

"You're coming to New York with me. I knew this, of course, the minute Tony said 'wormholes', sounding all of two years old, there was only one this could end. Not to mention your connection to Thor and your very impressive Ph.Ds, Dr. Foster, but it's best to at least pretend that we're playing ball and cooperating with SHIELD so I'm here to officially contract you on behalf of Stark Industries. You need Bruce and Tony's help get Thor—"

"Open an Einstein-Rosen Bridge," Jane cut in sharply. Pepper raised her eyebrows, but her smile suddenly seemed more genuine. Jane cleared her throat. "Thor is—it's not about Thor."

"Isn't it, Dr. Foster?"

Jane looked at her boards of equations. They had existed long before she met Thor, but Thor had given her the proof that they could be made real. That her work wasn't the joke most of the scientific community thought it to be. He hadn't known science as she did and he couldn't explain why the Bridge opened as it did, but he gave her something more important than words—proof. He was proof himself, and the Bridge had opened in front of her eyes twice because of him. Thor was at the centre of it all. 

It was no secret that she wanted to see Thor again, of course she did ( _Deal? Deal._ ), but this was about more than just him. She could feel it in her bones. Opening the Bridge would change science's understanding of the universe. It could take them to the stars. 

"I can't separate him from it now, but it's about so much more, Ms. Potts. Thor—how he came here, where he comes from—they're all very big pieces in an even larger puzzle."

"Oh, you and the boys are going to be so much trouble, Dr. Foster, but you're lucky I have a background in managing trouble. When can you be ready to leave?" Pepper said, smiling and pulled out a slim phone from her bag, typing even faster than Darcy could. "We'll have to get some SHIELD personnel to help up take your equipment to the jet, but Stark Industries can manage from there." 

Jane didn't even wait to call out, "Darcy!"

"On it!" 

Pepper looked between them, and continued on like nothing happened. "Tony's not really a fan of SHIELD tech in the tower, so you can leave the SHIELD loaned computers. He says it's because it's shoddy equipment, but really he's just paranoid that Fury is spying on him."

Shocked at the admission, Jane blurted out, "Is he?" 

"Is Fury spying on Tony?"

Jane nodded, flushing. _On a roll today, Foster._

Pepper chuckled softly. "Probably. He's probably spying on you too."

From her desk Darcy scoffed, "Oh, like we didn't know that already. This entire place screams Big Brother."

Pepper looked over at Darcy, one corner of her mouth curving upward. Darcy grinned back and ducked back under to her desk. Turning back to Jane, Pepper gestured to where Darcy disappeared. "She's coming with you?"

Jane answered without hesitation. "Yes." 

"Where Jane goes so goes my nation," Darcy added.

Jane rolled her eyes, but it was a nice thing to hear. She wasn't really sure when Darcy went from inter to lab assistant to best friend, but she suspected it was their second month in New Mexico, when she noticed a pattern in the data print outs that Jane missed. That was also the month they had started Roof Top Margarita Sundays.

Pepper nodded, "All right then. You two need to get everything you need packed up and ready. We take off in three hours." Pepper paused, looking down at the slim silver watch on her wrist, "Is that enough?"

Jane looked around her lab. Equipment was strewn around, her boards stationed along every wall. They seemed too big for the space they were in. Like they couldn't breathe, and she knew it was the same for her. She wasn't claustrophobic but ever since SHIELD packed her up here, it had felt like they'd been trying to keep Jane away from the tools that could have helped her further her work. She thought of the Tesseract, of SHIELD's choice to leave it to Erik. 

"More than enough."

"Don't worry about the little things. You'll be staying in Stark Tower, anything else you need will be provided for you there." Pepper said, eyeing the equipment. "I'm going to get us some muscle to help you move everything."

"Thank you," Jane said, meaning it. 

At the door, Pepper turned back, half out already. "Will Dr. Selvig be joining us?"

Jane looked back to Darcy whose eyes were downcast. Jane turned back to Pepper. "No, I don't think so. He went back home a couple days ago."

Pepper didn't say anything, her eyes softening, and the door swung shut few seconds later. Pepper's heels echoed slightly as she walked away.

Jane turned to the borrowed lab. Darcy already had a box on her desk, smiling, "Back to the city that never sleeps!"

"You've never been to New York, Darcy," Jane laughed, moving towards her equipment, already mentally apologising to the machines for having to dismantle them once more. 

"True, but I feel like I have. According to the movies everything happens in New York. Playlist time!"

Darcy's music kept them company as they packed up the lab (again). Outside, the clouds must have shifted away from the sun, because the room seemed brighter. A wolf's howl sounded in the distance. 

 

-

 

Several hours later, they were over the Atlantic. 

Darcy shook Jane awake with, "We're gonna land soon and I thought you might want to be bright-eyed and bushy tailed. Want some coffee? Pepper has like the best coffee to ever be served. Anywhere. In the world."

Jane mumbled something in the affirmative, and three-seconds later there was a warm mug of coffee in her hands, and _man_ , that really was the best smell in the world. It even smelled expensive. She took a sip, making an appreciative noise. It took about a second for Jane to decide she wanted to marry this cup of coffee. 

Across from her in one of the plush seats of the Stark private jet, Darcy smirked. "You and the coffee need a room?"

Jane rolled her eyes, taking a longer sip. "Thanks, Darce." 

"No problem," Darcy leaned back in her seat. 

"So when did Ms. Potts become Pepper?" Jane asked, unsurprised that Darcy was now on a first-name basis with the CEO of Stark Industries. 

"Somewhere over England, after you dozed off. She's pretty cool. I told her the story about tasing Thor, and she didn't even blink. I think it comes with the territory when working for Tony Stark." Darcy shrugged and pushed a plate towards Jane. Bypassing the small fork, Jane tore grabbed an orange slice; it burst under her teeth, tart and refreshing.

Darcy talked while Jane ate. Apparently Pepper had been busy at work for Jane's arrival to New York the last couple of days. She had arranged for Jane and Darcy's rooms in Stark Tower, including a whole floor to themselves, a lab with access to all of the Tower's R&D levels, and a new job title—Jane was now an official astrophysics consultant for Stark Industries. Pepper Potts didn't seem like the type to leave loose ends and Jane's attachment to SHIELD could be possibly difficult situation for them all so she apparently had severed it. Jane would own all her work, of course. This time around. SHIELD weren't Jane's favourite people, but they had some good lawyers and over the last year controlled everything she was allowed to publish. The new contract freed her up again to publish any work she did for Stark Industries. Jane wasn't sure how Pepper managed that with Fury, and she wasn't she wanted to. 

As Darcy told her this, Jane stood up and looked around the small plane. She spotted Pepper and walked over to where the redhead was sitting near the front of the jet, a StarkPad in front of her, wanting to thank her. 

"Did you sleep well, Dr. Foster?" Pepper looked up as Jane sat down across from her. 

"Yes, thank you," Jane replied. 

"I like to make sure all our employees have the best working environment possible," Pepper smiled, slyly. 

"You guys really don't like SHIELD, do you?"

Jane blurted out, flushing.

Pepper tapped a few things on her tablet before answering. "It's not that at all, Dr. Foster. I understand very well that SHIELD and Commander Fury have a job to do, and it's a commendable one, but they have a way of, oh how do I say this without sounding like a bitch?"

Jane laughed lightly, "Please, don't censor yourself for me."

Pepper smirked. "They have secrets, and that's fine, everyone does, but it becomes a problem when they want to know all our secrets and don't share any of their own. It's not about liking SHIELD, Dr. Foster. It's about keeping a level playing field." Pepper glanced at Jane as she made a note of something and slipped the paper into a folder. "You don't trust them, I take it?"

"No. No, I don't," Jane shook her head. She tapped one nail against the small plastic buttons of the flannel shirt she hadn't changed out of. "The first time we crossed paths they stole all my work. Coulson then called it 'borrowing', but we both knew if the situation hadn't changed… It's funny, I didn't trust SHIELD, but I kinda learned to trust him—Coulson. That's why I let them move me to Tromsø in the first place. He was the one that called me, told me to get on that plane. Well, Fury was, but it was Coulson I listened to."

"You knew Phil?" Something in Pepper's voice made Jane look back up. 

Jane nodded, "Only Darcy called him that. I mean, I did too, but not to his face. That would have been letting him win."

Pepper's laugh was surprising because was the most genuine sound the woman had given her yet. "What with you scientists and giving Phil a hard time?"

"I guess he brings the worst out in us."

"Brought," Pepper corrected her softly.

Jane tilted her head against the seat, towards the window. "Right, yeah."

"Well, you won't have to worry about your work anymore, Dr. Foster."

Jane slid a look back to Pepper whose head was bent back over her tablet. "Jane, please."

Pepper's looked up briefly. "Pepper, then."

The pilot announced then that they were getting ready to land and they shared a smile. Jane stood, motioning back towards where Darcy was, letting Pepper finish her work before they landed. 

"Have a nice chat?" Darcy asked.

Jane shrugged, "Yeah, kinda. She knew Phil."

"Oh?" Darcy's voice was a little thick. 

"Yeah. Pretty well too, it seemed."

Fiddling with her earphones, Darcy mumbled, "Cool, I guess we couldn't be the only people he looked out for."

Making a soft noise of agreement, she gently kicked Darcy's feet off of her seat. "So, what've you been reading?"

Darcy tucked her Kindle into her bag, "You know, the usual, _Astrophysics for Dummies, A Very Short History on Norse Mythology_."

"Come on," Jane pushed. "Seriously."

A blush appeared on Darcy's cheeks. "Okay, fine, it's _Why Does e=mc². And Why Should We Care_ but I'm serious about the Norse book."

"Darcy!"

"I wanted to not be completely lost in all your conversations with Erik, and then I got interested. It's pretty cool. Confusing as fuck, but cool."

"You talking about the physics or the mythology?"

Darcy grinned, "Both."

Jane laughed as the plane hit the tarmac. Darcy was right though. Physics and mythology were twisting together, and they were confusing the hell out of Jane, too.

 

-

 

As soon as they landed, Jane dashed to the cargo hold to make sure the Stark Industries employees were handling her equipment properly. SHIELD, for all their bluster, had not known how to handle half of it—so obviously a military organisation no matter what they said. Stark's employees at least seemed better equiped, but barely in Jane's opinion. Pepper was talking to the driver who had met them at the airfield. Darcy was stretching, shifting her bag over her shoulder. As soon Jane started directing orders about the proper handling of her things to the ground crew, they called out to her.

"Jane, come on!"

"Dr. Foster, if you want, I'll show you to the lab. Your equipment will meet us up there."

Jane's attention drifted back to the equipment. It would be insulting to ask Pepper on the reliability of her employees, so she swallowed the words, and nodded. "Yes, I'd like to see the lab."

Pepper smiled, "I thought you might, and don't worry about a thing, we'll be very careful with your belongings, won't we, boys?"

One of the men loading The Big One into a dolly smiled at them, "Of course, Ms. Potts."

"Just as if it was something of Mr. Stark's, David."

"Yes, ma'am."

Pepper looked to Jane, who smiled back gratefully. 

They walked to the car that was waiting for them, the driver opening the doors. Pepper waved her and Darcy into the car. Darcy settled into the leather seats like they were her new home. Pepper chuckled. "Ready then? I have a feeling that Tony and Bruce would like to start talking to you about your work as soon as possible. Let's go, Happy."

When they arrived at Stark Tower the first thing Jane noticed was that it was still being rebuilt. Darcy already had her phone out, taking pictures, "Holy shit, Jane, I'm pretty sure I that's Mew-Mew's imprint on some of these walls." 

The second thing was that there was still only one letter on it. The lone _A_ stood out like a beacon.

As they made their way into the building, Darcy slided up to Jane's side, and whispered, "Tony Stark, Jane! I'm going to crash Facebook with these pictures. That'll show Fury for shutting down my old account." 

Stepping into the elevator, Pepper punched in a code the seventy-fourth floor and grinned at Darcy. "Seeing as I've given you both nondisclosure agreements to sign, seeing as you're going to be working with Tony on classified matters, I'm afraid that's going to be near impossible, Ms. Lewis. You know, legal stuff."

Darcy's face fell spectacularly. "Seriously? I thought we bonded, Pepper."

Jane unsuccessfully tried to smother her snort of laughter. 

Pepper grinned as the numbers rose on the elevator's screen. "Seriously. But don't worry, you're not missing much. Tony's much better at being catastrophically embarrassing than he used to be."

"That's a little depressing, to be honest."

The elevator dinged open. Pepper lead them out, winking at Darcy, "Yes, he thinks so, too."

Darcy and Pepper chatted next to Jane as they entered the lab. The door opened for Pepper automatically, a distinctly British voice welcoming them in, immediately stealing Darcy's attention. Jane herself only half listened as Pepper explained the AI that ran the building. Her eyes are locked on the screens in front of her. The math on the screens was—it was _hers_. She rushed forward, pushing past Darcy and Pepper, going to the closest screen. 

Tentatively she touched it. It responded immediately to her touch. She thought as much, remembering the clear card tucked into her notebook. 

She still could hear Pepper and Darcy behind her, but her attention was on what was in front. It was an older version of her equation, from one of her early papers on her Bridge theory that SHIELD had blocked her from publishing. She wondered how Tony Stark had gotten his hands on it. Looking over her shoulder at Pepper she asked her as much. "How does Stark have this? Nobody but SHIELD and Darcy saw this paper."

"You'll have to ask Tony, but I'd say he probably hacked into SHIELD and downloaded all files pertaining to you and Thor." Pepper said, smoothly. It was a little surprising how unsurprised Jane was by Pepper's answer.

Darcy walked up to Jane, eyes trailing over the screen over Jane's shoulder. "Yeah, still mumbo jumbo. What paper are we talking about?"

Jane turned back to the screen and noticed some new variables. She was clearly not the only one who's been playing around with the math. 

"The first one, after we first tried to open the Bridge."

"Oh, that one." Darcy squinted at it. "The generators on Biggie blew up pretty spectacularly there, didn't they?"

Jane ignored her, but silently conceded the point. The generators did practically melt on that try. She was still trying to fix them.

On the screen, she squinted at what Stark or Banner had added. Jane had already fixed and improved on the equation months ago, but what they'd incorporated was intriguing. Her fingers went back to the screen, but she needed something to write with. The screen didn't pick up the movement of her fingers making symbols, it just rearranged them. 

"I need a—" Jane mimed a writing in the air, looking around trying to find a stylus or a keyboard.

"To your left, Dr. Foster," the British voice of the AI said.

Jane looked and found a stylus sitting idly on the table. "Thanks," she mumbled absently, fingers closing around the stylus. She heard Darcy mutter something and drift way, probably back to Pepper. 

"Tell me when the equipment gets up here, Darce!" Jane reminded her assistant. She went back to fixing the equation. The math was so old. If Darcy's answered, it was lost as Jane tried to compensate for the amount of energy that they would require to excite the ion particles. 

Stark (or Banner) was clearly a genius. What they added made the energy transfer make a beautiful, crazy, sort of sense. She'd read up on Stark's new interest in clean energy and the basics of his arc reactor technology, but she never expected it would figure into her work. Never thought she could get the funding for it. But, this—oh, she needed to talk to him about this. At the rate his arc technology distributed energy, if this was accurate, the quantum tunnelling could be theoretically controlled if she could figure how to keep the Planck constant fixed across the board. Her stylus moved faster across the screen. 

She was about to make a change when she heard a new voice telling her to stop. 

"No, you don't want to do that. You're underestimating the gamma output." 

Jane was startled out of her reverie, turned her head, and blinked. Two men stood behind her, their eyes focused on the screen in front of her. She wondered how long they had been there. Behind them, Darcy smirked, telling Jane they'd probably been standing behind her for few minutes at least. Crap. 

_Excellent first impression, Foster._

She recognised Tony Stark from his magazine covers and articles, which meant the man next to him had to be Bruce Banner. Tony Stark, Jane noted, was much less polished than she expected. There were oil stains on both his shirt and jeans, and his hair was wild about his head. He had a bag of pretzels in his hand and a stylus tucked behind one ear. Next to him Dr. Banner looked positively immaculate, even with his wrinkled clothes and shy smile. 

"Oh, hi!" said Jane, blinking again, "The math was old, it needed to be updated, but I liked what you added in. Can an arc reactor energy source really handle that amount of output at that rate?" She pointed to the screen behind her and swore she saw their eyes light up.

Stark smiled, "Yes! Yes, it can, but first, let's talk about this 'old math'. Pretzel?" He extended the bag at her. Jane stared at it for a second, slightly confused, but took a pretzel. "Thanks." Dr. Banner chuckled. Stark grinned and started to say something else when the elevators dinged, interrupting him, and Jane saw her equipment being wheeled through. She leaned forward to see.

Stark followed her gaze, "Your equipment?"

"Yes," Jane said absently, eyes narrowed on the men unloading her boxes, "Hey, be careful!" 

"Excellent," Tony said, moving towards her things, Jane half a step behind him. "Let's get this party started."

The look in Tony's eyes, which was being aimed at her machines, was a dangerous thing to witness. She felt like jumping in front of them. It was very weird moment for Jane. Next to him Dr. Banner rolled his eyes. Pepper did too. 

Darcy chimed in with, "That reference is so outdated."

At this Pepper moved to Tony's side, informing him that she was leaving them to it. "And Tony, remember to ask when playing with other kids toys, okay?" she said, dropping a kiss on his cheek. He picked up a box and blew a kiss her way. "Never!" The sound of Pepper's laughter followed her out.

Tony turned and abruptly shooed his own employees away. Darcy narrowed her focus to the files, which was fine since she was the one that pretty much built Jane's current filing system from post-its and sheer willpower. Jane shouldered Stark and Banner away from The Big One, but soon they all found themselves falling into an easy rhythm and had her space set up by midnight. Her updated math covered the boards around the lab, and the computers were already running her algorithms. 

Jane learned very quickly that Tony really loved machines. It was nerve-wrecking and fascinating to see him fiddle with the equipment she'd spent years building and keeping together, sometimes with only willpower and prayer. But he oohed and ahhed, and when he grimaced, he called up JARIVS to note on what of her stuff needed upgrades. 

He also gave her a crash course in his holo-desk system, producing a rough, blue 3-D model of The Big One, and a rough outline of her design for the platform for the Einstein-Rosen Bridge. Darcy took a picture, poked her new friend Tony on Facebook, and went back to talking with JARVIS and teaching the AI her filing system. Dr. Banner moved between helping Tony and Jane organised the equipment around the labs and looking over Jane's math.

Around 2 a.m. of the next day, her upgraded equation was taking over screen she had worked on before. It was the key to making this all work.

"That's some fucking magic you're working there, Foster," said Tony, a cup of coffee in his hand, as he watched her write it out above the old one. Jane smirked at his choice of words.

On her other side, Bruce rubbed his chin. "I have to agree with Tony, Jane. What you're doing is nothing short of incredible. You're changing our understanding of physics. "

They both looked a little wistfully at the screen. Jane could understand the sentiment. Her old equation was improved on by herself earlier and by the math Tony and Bruce's had added to it to the point it looked almost brand new. In the new one, the math was sharper, it made an elusive sense she had thought only she would ever see, but Tony and Bruce saw it too. It had been the right thing to do, coming here, Jane smiled to herself.

"I'm going to put them together now." Her throat worked as she twirled the stylus in her hand and looked at Tony. "How do I do that on this?"

Tony grinned and made a little motion with his hands, twiddling his fingers, bringing his palms together with a clap. "Just work your magic, Foster."

Jane laughed. Tony couldn't know what his words meant to her. Her magic. 

Raising her fingers to the screen she touched the edges of each equations with one hand and overlaid them on the screen. It was just her fingers trailing a touchscreen. Her mind understood the mechanics of it but it still made her giddy. She could feel what these equations would build under her fingertips. There was no charge on the screen but the nerve endings in her hands felt alive, electric. 

_Your ancestors called it magic. You call it science. I come from a place they are one in the same._

It was science, Jane knew, but it felt like she was creating a spell. 

The fanciful thought made her smile widen and she pulled her hands back. 

On the screen, the equations start to merge. The math slotted into each other; arranging, rearranging, and weaving itself together. Jane sucked in a breath because she could _see_ it happening. "Shit," Bruce or Tony said. She wasn't paying attention to which one it was, but whoever it was they were right.

It wasn't done. The computer wasn't done processing yet, but she could see how it would look like finished. She saw what Bruce had meant about the gamma radiation, now fixed; the arc tech would stabilise the energy transfer between the conductors. But it was all there. She could see it. Her stomach felt as if it full of bursting bubbles, like she had too much champagne and too little sleep. And while the latter was true, she shook her head at herself, forced herself to focus. Reaching up, she tapped the edge of the screen so it would show her how long was left before the program was done processing. 

Thirty-three point three percent done; Jane sighed. 

There was still a lot to work on, and she said as much to Tony and Bruce. Everything still had to be built. Tony clasped her shoulder and winked at her. "Don't worry, I got you covered there, Foster."

 

 

_.asgard eternal_

 

Nobody would ever say the word, but did they think it? 

Asgard did not tremble. The Realm Enteral stood strong, bright, and golden in the face of its foes, but now Thor was curious of how much that sheen was hiding. 

The meeting with Odin had disquieted Thor to say the least. His father had stood tense throughout it, his grip on Gunglir never lessening. Had the staff not been forged with the strongest of metals and magics, Thor was sure it would have bent under the Allfather's hand. The Nine Realms teetered on the edge of not war but something greater and far more dangerous.

Jötunheim, still rebuilding from Loki's actions, did not, nor would ever, look favourably towards Asgard. War had not come from Jötunheim yet, but that did not preclude other battles from edging closer. 

There were rumblings of Muspellheim's fires. Svartalfheim was quieter, but there was a tension there, born of old wars. It was same for every other realm, save Midgard and Hel. Midgard until now, had thought the other realms nought but myth and Hel's responsibilities did not centre on the living.

Nevertheless, the troubles of the other realms had not been the sole reason the Allfather had called him into that meeting. There were other forces that looked to threaten Asgard. His father spoke of them to Thor privately afterward, as he led Thor back to the weapon's vault. 

They stood in front of the Tessarect, glowing blue and bright like a star. It appeared gentle, but Thor had witnessed how it could devastate with its power—a world, or just one person. 

When Loki had taken the other end of cylinder, he'd seen reluctance in his brother's eye alongside his anger. On Stark's Tower, Loki had seemed brittle and unsure, and even as the knife sliced through Thor's side he had wondered how many of his brother's words had been a lie. How many of them had been truth? With Loki, it was impossible to know.

Loki's spear had glowed the same blue as the cube. Then after, shaken from the force of the Hulk, he had quipped, as Thor had always known him too, bizarrely complacent in his capture. It was a shameful thought, but Thor also pondered of how much truth that moment had held. 

On its podium, the Tesseract suddenly seemed to pulse thickly at Thor, as if calling to him. He turned from it as his father spoke.

"The cosmos are angry, my son. The World Tree trembles and the shadow of Twilight seems to be falling upon us."

Thor looked sharply to Odin. "Father?"

"Fire burns closer to the realm, and darkness chases it. I fear it will fall to you to hold it back." Odin turned and faced Thor head-on, resting his hands on Thor's shoulders. For a moment, Thor thought of the last time his father had clasped him in similar manner, stripping Thor of what he believed to be his worth with his touch. Even knowing that's not his father's purposes this time, Thor struggled not to flinch. 

Odin's singular gaze bore into him. "You must be ready, my son. These coming battles will ask hard things of you. I have not known a war that has not called for sacrifices." Thor nodded, but said nothing in return. 

He did not need his father to tell him of sacrifices. He had become too familiar with them.

As they left, Odin had stopped on the vault's steps, looking down half way up. Something passed through his face then, his mouth stiffened. "Asgard and our people are vulnerable, Thor. Be a better king than I."

Thor followed his father to his private study where Huginn and Munnin squawked at them, Munnin flying and perching himself on Thor's shoulder as his father kept speaking. None of his words served to appease Thor. 

The conversation did not leave Thor's thoughts for days.

_Vulnerable._

The word no dared speak. To even think the word felt unnatural, but it loomed. Asgard was vulnerable. Yggdrasil was trembling, shaking its realms into states of unrest. These were notions none of the Aesir would ever want to dwell on. Asgard was to be Eternal. Twilight was never to fall, foretold as it was. But what they had all feared, and none spoke of, when the Bifrost broke was finally showing its face. 

The great Ash-Tree was crying. It had grown weak since the Bifrost was let loose and wild, mirroring Loki's anger on Jötunheim. It only worsened when Odin had ripped a hole between the realms to send him to Midgard. That dark energy had left its mark, as they all feared it would, but at the time they had been willing to risk it. For Loki. _For Jane_ , Thor thought selfishly.

Now the it appeared that risk had been too great. Dark energy pulsed around the edges of Asgard and through Yggdrasil. Thor wondered if his father regretted it.

Thor would not, he repeated to himself, as he walked across the garden. A shadow fell across him. He looked up to see the apple tree that he, Loki, and Sif used to climb as children. Thor wondered if he was judged. 

Sighing, Thor turned to the east wing of the palace. There was only person who Thor had always looked towards for counsel.

 

-

 

The edges of Loki's prison did not exist to a mortal's eye. Thor felt them, though, and while he knew he could not cross them, he could look at least look to see where his brother sat. Loki did not look up from his seated position at Thor's appearance, but Thor noticed an edge of tension in Loki's shoulders stiffened slightly, in the way his lips thinned. Thor wanted to tell his brother the action looked rather forced. 

Neither of them spoke. 

Thor did not know what to say. Loki would not speak. 

To Thor it was as if he had moved his brother from one glass cage to another. Loki had found the weakness in Midgard's cage. When would he find the one in this one? If he hadn't already, Thor thought. He had yet to lose his uneasiness towards his brother since returning from Midgard, a shameful truth. Remembering the disparity in Loki's attitude during the battle did not help matters.

Back on Midgard, on the cliff, Loki could have escape, but hadn't. They had narrowed that to Loki's plan, but when he turned nervous eyes and a blade on Thor later, Loki could have escape, even after receiving the blows from the Hulk. But he had only lain there, waiting to be caught. Thor dared to hope it had been because Loki only wanted to return home. 

That hope felt like a blade spinning in the air and Thor did not know if when it landed the blade would impale him or the hilt would only bruise.

Still, the thought had him sitting at the edge of the barrier, legs folded under him. There were guards near, but without real need. Loki would not escape, could not. 

With his back to the wall, Thor looked at Loki. His hair was still long. It curled around his ears and shoulders, no longer slicked back by the oils he used. When mother pulled Loki's face to hers the day Thor brought him back home, muzzled and bruised, her fingers had combed through it. 

The hair was not the only change.

The gaunt face and the loss of weight were severe on his brother's frame. He sat un-armoured, without the trappings of his metal, helmet, and cape, and Thor couldn't help but notice how thin his brother's shoulders really were. 

He did not know how long he sat there in silence. It wasn't in his nature to be so still outside sleep and battle exhaustion. Only with very few people did Thor ever embrace the silence he normally felt so uncomfortable in, when action failed him and thoughts plagued him. Sif, his mother, his brother. And Jane. 

He leaned back against the pillar he sat in front of, sighing. He had visited the Bifrost earlier today after several days of forcing himself not to do so. Heimdall's golden eyes had flicked away from where they had been looking. Thor tried not to make too much on the fact, but it stayed with him. 

When Thor asked his question, Heimdall's gaze narrowed once more, and Thor would wagger Gylirr, favoured and beloved steed, that the gatekeeper's voice warmed as he answered. 

"She has found herself allies on your Man of Iron and the Hulk's Host. They help her build her Bridge."

It heartened Thor. Stark and Banner's intelligence had seemed on par with Jane's. They would be fine companions in her quest to reconnect the realms.

Fingering the lanyard of Mjölnir's handle, Thor barely noticed slight movement from across the room. It was only years of sitting across from his brother at various tables and campfires that allowed him to pick up on the change. Loki had stopped reading his book. There was no shift in his face and his body barely moved. The book was still on his lap, but his attention was longer on it. An air of impatience and curiosity now surrounded him, and Thor could almost hear Loki ask, _Oh, by the Nine, what's got you so silent that you're making Hogun look positively chatty?_ It made him smile.

Unfortunately, as he did so he became immediately aware he'd made a mistake. Loki's mouth turned. It did not make his face look pleasant. His chance to talk to Loki and have him _listen_ was closing.

"The realms are in a state of unrest, brother, and it feels that Father awaits for me to take some sort of action. I feel I am being tested and I do not think I will persevere this time. There is talk of treaties and truces. Hollow words that make me impatient for action." Thor moved his gaze towards the archway of the windows, where Asgard's tall crystalline towers stood beyond them. Loki's glassless cage. "I feel unwise and unprepared, and I find myself looking for you for council. It is not a simple war that edges towards Asgard, brother. Father feels a twilight is upon us."

Loki's face darkened each mention of the word 'father', but he kept his gaze on Thor. Shock and something Thor could not describe flickered across Loki's eyes at Thor's last words. 

Thor stood. "I miss your counsel, brother. Even when it was impish and given out of vexation. I have come to the opinion that you have been mightily annoyed with me on many occasions, but I could not see them as such at the time, and did not heed your words as I should have."

Loki's eyes followed him as he moved towards the door. The stare felt like blades on his back, but Loki's gaze had always been sharp. The ghost of the stab at his side pricked at his senses. But it had never been Loki's gaze that ever truly cut Thor. Loki had done much better with his hands. At the entrance of the chamber he did not look back, but he stopped. There was one more thing he wanted to tell his brother.

"Next time mother comes, do not be rude to her as you are me. You cause her more pain each time you dismiss her love towards you, and she's has had enough to bear. You may not believe all of us mourned, but you must know that she did. You are not brainless, brother. Do not start playing the part."

Thor forced himself out. Walking down the halls of the palace, back towards the training grounds feeling the need to move and hit something, Thor watched the people moving around him. Court members and guards smiled and bowed at him as he passed. Ladies blushed. Servants shied out of his way. 

They did not seem worried. They had no fear in their eyes. There was no reason for them to believe that Asgard was truly vulnerable. Never had it been. Asgard was forever ready for battles and wars that had never truly touched the realm. And even now as shadows fell on the Realm External, its citizens did not shudder under them.

It should make him proud, but it vexed him. It vexed for reasons he couldn't fully comprehend. 

Asgard stood, ever golden and steady, and yet sat broken on the Yggdrasil's branches, shadows looming. So few truly understood how vulnerable the realm was. They were on the highest branches of Yggdrasil, burning bright above all other realms. 

Thor was beginning to think that it only meant they would have the longest way to fall.

 

-

 

That night Thor slept, but restlessly, and he awoke, sweating in the middle of the night, a shout lodged in this throat. 

The image of Jane, burning, fire at her fingertips, hair haloed in smoke tore at him. The most frightening part of it all was that she had been smiling. He fought the urge to fly to the Bifrost site. It was only a dream, _only a dream_ , he told himself. But he so rarely dreamt like this, with images so clear they felt like memories.

He had been racing to her, his hand outstretched. And Jane, covered in fire, had reached for him, his name soft on her lips, but he had not reached in her time. It had been as if she could not feel the fires around her and was letting herself be engulfed. Then, Loki had followed her into the fire, but where the flames took Jane lovingly, they had hissed at Loki. 

And Thor could only watch as he lost them both.

Thor laid back on his bed, running a hand across his face, and stared up at the ceiling, thoughts swirling in his head. He did not go back to sleep and did not move until the light of Sol began peeking through his windows.


	4. .03

_.one in the same_

Jane rolled her neck, feeling her muscles pop. It had been another all-nighter in the lab. They had stripped down The Big One so it could it be integrated with its new Stark Industries components. It had been hard to see the machine come apart but the conductors were useless from Jane's last attempt to open the Bridge. 

She had learned how to build the machines she needed and how to make them work even when they shouldn't, but the hard truth was Jane just wasn't an engineer. And she wasn't going to throw an asset like Tony Stark with his resources and experience away. Tony'd been sincere in his promise to help her build the machine for her Foster Bridge, as he and Darcy had taken to calling it, and Jane knew his could be the difference between success and failure. 

Across from her, the equation loomed on the computerised board. The gamma output wouldn't be a problem anymore. The amount of negative energy that it would take to excited the exotic matter that would cause the wormhole was still worrisome, but getting the machine and conductors ready would alleviate that. The arc technology would also go a long way in helping create a stable energy field for the Bridge to open within.

It made Jane smile.

Above her boards, the clock told her it was near seven a.m. Dummy whirred around quietly, picking up tools and discarded coffee cups setting them aside. Tony's snores sounded from the other side of the lab. 

She stretched again. 

Looking down at her notes, she traced one of her doodles with a fingertip. It overlaid on Thor's drawing of Yggdrasil in soft shades of colours. She had started drawing a rainbow in the path that was connecting Asgard to Earth. If only it was so easy. 

Wait. Rainbows. 

Jane blinked, her hands pressing the pages flat across her. What were rainbows but a refraction and dispersions of light? Wasn't that exactly what the Bridge did? Wasn't that all it came back to? It sent what seemed to be a light, and the people travelling within it, across the universe at incredible speeds.

Snapping her eyes back to her equations, she thought of the Borealis. 

It wasn't just telling her the bridge still existed, it was telling her how she could traveled through it. She had been right when she spoke of an Einstein-Rosen Bridge, but Thor had also been right when he told her it was a Rainbow Bridge. 

Of course it was, because Asgard knew nothing of Einstein or Rosen. They knew light and space and magic. They knew rainbows.

 _One and the same_. Jane laughed and found she could not stop. 

Dummy whirred turning to face her and she waved the machine off. "It's okay, Dummy, I'm fine. I think I just figured out how travel across space using rainbows."

She finally saw it. All of it. She had it now. The electromagnetic radiation was in the light. She now knew how it travelled through the Bridge, how it refracted and dispelled the energy that it would take for a person to travel through it. They saw it in the Borealis by how the Einstein-Rosen wavelengths reacted when it brushed against Earth's atmosphere.

Jane shook her head and closed her eyes. In her mind's eyes she saw it, everything made sense now. She could open an Einstein-Rosen Bridge. She could open a wormhole. She found a way to see Thor again. She found a way to travel through the stars.

Opening her eyes, her stylus touched the glass of the board and Jane let herself get lost as she built a way to cross worlds.

"JARVIS?"

"Yes, Dr. Foster?"

"When Darcy and Bruce get up tell them I need them to get down here."

"Of course, Dr. Foster."

"And JARVIS? Make sure they bring in a lot of coffee."

"I had deduced as much, Dr. Foster."

 

-

 

Jane hated to call it a daze when she fell headlong into her work, because she hated the idea that she was in some way unaware of her actions, but when she blinked and focused back on the work in front of her, she felt overwhelmed and exhausted. Slowly, the sounds of the lab came back alive around her. 

First, the sounds of the computers and machines filtered in; Butterfingers rolled by. Darcy's voice filtered in next, followed by Tony's and Bruce's. They overlapped, mumbling about her math. 

Rubbing at the stiffness in her shoulder, Jane took a breath and took a step back. One foot hit her chair, sending it rolling back. In an instant, Darcy was at her side thrusting a thick looking shake in her hand. 

At Jane's look, she only said, "No way I'm giving you coffee. What you need is protein and some fucking vitamin C."

Jane laughed, taking a sip. "Darcy, I think I got. No, I know I got it." 

Darcy smiled, rolling her eyes. Her arm went around Jane's shoulder. "Oh, I know. Frick and Frack over there have been creaming their pants since Bruce came in and woke Tony up. They've been standing watching you write for almost as long as you've been working."

Jane looked over at the men, taking another sip of the drink. Both men turned to Jane and Darcy at the latter's words. Tony's hair was a mess and his hands fluttered around the air. Before she could even blink, Jane found her face between his hands and Tony's goatee scratching her chin and lips as he gave her a loud smacking kiss. 

"Jane! I swear if I wasn't already getting married to the perfect woman, I would propose to you right now and get ready for my life of leisure as the husband of the woman who figured out how build a fucking wormhole!"

Rubbing at her mouth, Jane found herself laughing again. "Don't you already live a life of leisure, Tony?"

"Schematics, doctor!" He waved his hand towards the board, "That's brilliance."

Bruce rolled his eyes good-naturedly Tony, who was back eyeballing the math on the board like he wanted to climb in and make out with it. Bruce, not one for over the top gestures, just nodded at her. "He's ridiculous, but he's right, Jane. You just pushed the understanding of space travel and the universe ahead by, what, fifty years? Conservatively speaking."

Jane looked at the board. To her, it glowed. It was the answer to the question she'd been asking herself for most of her adult life. It was everything she'd ever worked for, but until Bruce's comment, she hadn't fully considered what it meant. She had known finding the answer to discovering and opening an Einstein-Rosen Bridge was a monumental, but in her search she had forgotten what it truly meant for the world. 

Flushing, she fiddled with the straw of her shake. "Bruce… Thank you." Tilting her head, she smiled. "So I didn't underestimate the gamma output this time?"

Bruce laughed, low and soft. "No, definitely not. How'd you come up with it?"

Tony turned back, eyes wide, "Yeah, share, Janey, because I'm seriously considering polygamy right now."

They all rolled their eyes at Tony, Darcy poking his side. "You know she's got Thor, right? What would she want with your scrawny ass, Stark?"

"You wound me, Lewis. You are also a _liar_. I have a great ass."

Darcy stuck out her tongue at him. Jane laughed and found that like before she couldn't stop, doubling over, and dropping to her chair.

Looking up, she found the grinning faces of her friends. 

"You still with us, Foster?"

She nodded. "Darcy?"

"Yeah, boss lady?" She winked.

"Let's call Erik and tell him to get his ass down here from Sweden, because we're going to open a wormhole and he's not going want to miss it." She reached out and curled her fingers on the edge of notebook. 

Darcy whooped.

She felt Tony's hand curve over the back of her chair and he began rolling her across the lab floor. "Now, team, let us shower, change, and call Pepper because we're going out to celebrate with crepes."

Darcy whooped again. 

As they reached the doors, Tony tipped her chair forward, forcing Jane on her feet. Darcy pulled her into the elevator. As the doors closed, Jane leaned against the wall. For the first time in weeks, Jane allowed herself to think of Thor. Absently, she brushed her fingers against his token, which hung around her neck, hidden by her shirt. On the other side of the Bridge he was waiting for her.

 

 

_.interlude: the question_

 

"Good Heimdall, what do you see this day?" Thor asked, stepping up the gatekeeper. The beginnings of the new Observatory grew like a sapling after a long winter. The magic of it hung thick in the air, sweetening it.

Heimdall's eyes flickered to Thor. The grip on his sword changed. "She has found her answer, my prince. She prepares a machine to stitch the realms once more." 

Thor felt as if a wind blew through his chest, uplifting all the current burdens in his life. The memory of Jane's face flushing softly in the morning light as they woke on the roof bloomed in his mind's eye. The sound of her laughter filled his ears.

"Did you doubt she would find a way?" Heimdall asked.

Out of all the answers to questions he doesn't have, Thor was thankful Heimdall asked him a question whose answer he always knew.

"Never." Thor smiled. 

 

 

_.levelling out: spider and hawk_

 

"I expect you in the kitchen in five minutes, Jane, or _consequences_ will be had." Jane heard Darcy shout out as she stepped out of her room.

Jane yawned. It had been another late night building the platform for the Bridge machine. They were three weeks into it. Jane was thankful for Tony's help; the process was going about five times faster than it would have without Stark resources. Culver had nothing on Stark Industries. "What's happening in the kitchen?" 

Darcy popped her head out of her own room, toothbrush hanging between her lips. "Breakfast, Jane. Breakfast. Or more like brunch at this point, but food. Actual food that is not blended, is not takeout, and has not come out of Tony's fridge in the lab." Darcy went back into the bathroom, but not before she asked, "Like how you do guys know that you're not eating lab cultures or something?"

Jane pursed her lips, amused, "Bruce is very good about labelling things."

Darcy's snorted. 

Moving to the kitchen, Jane grabbed the mug of coffee already waiting for her. 

"Darcy?"

"Yeah?"

"What did you mean by the kitchen? I _am_ in the kitchen."

"You know, the big kitchen on the 'Communal Level' as Tony calls it. The _main_ kitchen, his kitchen," Darcy said, bouncing out of her room, pulling on a bright green sweater. She grabbed Jane's coffee and headed out the door. Jane followed the coffee.

"Tony doesn't have his own kitchen on his floor?" Jane asked, tucking her hair back into a loose ponytail as they left the apartment. 

At the elevator, Darcy handed the coffee back. "Yeah, but that's his private one. So he and Pepper don't want to run into Bruce in his underwear."

Jane laughed into her coffee. "Bruce would never do that, he's too polite."

"Probably true, but you never know. The Other Guy might be an exhibitionist." Looking at each other, they both cringed. "Yeah, I'm regretting saying it—Oh, hey, Bruce!" Darcy exclaimed loudly as the elevator opened. He blinked at her enthusiasm and stepped in. Jane coughed to cover her laughter. She was going to kill Darcy. 

"Morning," Bruce said, smiling, tilting his head at them. "You two okay?"

Jane and Darcy glanced at each other. 

"Fine!" they both said at the same time. 

Bruce levelled them with a look. "Okay, I'm not going to ask."

Jane nodded, "Good call." He was cradling a coffee mug of his own. A bright green one with the words NO SMASH painted in thick black letters. She smiled, pointing at it. "Tony?"

Bruce looked down at the mug and laughed softly. "Tony. Yours?"

Jane grinned down at hers. It was bright red and decorated with little lightning bolts. She wrapped an arm around Darcy's shoulder, "This one."

"Damn straight!" Darcy said. Bruce laughed and the evaluator doors opened again. Darcy lead them out, clearly familiar with the layout of the floor. Jane trailed her, falling into step next to Bruce. 

"Can you believe she hasn't even had a cup of coffee yet?" she whispered, leaning into him a little. Their shoulders bumped.

Bruce stiffened at the action, but covered it up quickly. Jane made no mention of it. She'd notice it a while ago, how careful Bruce was with his space. Sometimes it took him a while to get comfortable. 

"Morning people," Bruce said, "It's probably why she and Pepper get along."

Jane snickered. "Hey, do you know the reason why we're eating up here today?"

The answer didn't come from Bruce as they stepped into the kitchen and they are assaulted with a variety of smells. Tony stood next to a man with brown hair, who looked vaguely familiar and a red headed woman who did not. The table in front of them was piled food. Darcy was already loading up a plate for herself, chatting with Pepper, not looking bothered by the new arrivals.

"Janey, Brucie! Look who have come to mooch off my generosity."

The red head's face didn't change as she glanced at Tony, but Jane suddenly felt very worried for Tony's safety. 

Next to her, Bruce nodded at the newcomers. "Agent Barton, Agent Romanov, nice to see you again. Fury getting worried about me?" He added, sardonic. 

So they were SHIELD. Jane eyed them more closely.

The man grinned, plucking up a piece of toast and taking a huge bite out of it. "Sorry, Banner, you're not who we're worried about this time."

And suddenly Jane realised found herself in the cross-hairs of two very dangerous-looking pairs of eyes.

"Wait, me?"

 

-

 

"You've got to be kidding." Jane slammed her hands on the table, ignoring Tony's yelp as the hologram wavered in front of them. "You can't shut me down now!" 

Agent Romanov simply raised an eyebrow. Next to her Agent Clint Barton, rocked back on his heels. "Dr. Foster, that under SHIELD pervue that opening a portal—"

"Einstein-Rosen Bridge!" Jane corrected him.

Tony snorted. "God, Barton, haven't you been paying attention?"

Barton ignored Tony. "Okay, your Einstein-Rosen Bridge—it could be a very real danger to the security of our world. We can't just let you open it without the proper authorisation. It _is_ a SHIELD project."

"It's _my_ project, that SHIELD appropriated!" Jane swallowed, trying to push down the panic that just bubbled up inside her. She still hadn't finished. The platform was only half built. It laid in pieces around the lab as she and Tony built it, and now SHIELD was back, looking to end it all.

"Doctor Foster," Agent Romanov's voice was quiet, but it gave more pause to the room than Barton's entire speech. "You have to understand that while you've been contracted to Stark Industries in the these final stages of your project, the project itself was still primarily funded by SHIELD and your findings are under our directive to employ as needed."

And there it was. Natasha Romanov had just given Jane her ace. 

"But I quit! You let me go! And according to my SHIELD contract, the work remains mine wherever I go and, further more, my work on the Bridge theory started in New Mexico when I was still working at Culver. I don't need your approval to continue it. If you need me to, I'll quit again. I quit!"

"You can't do that," Barton blinked at her, the turned to Romanov. "Can she do that?"

Pepper stepped forward, a file in hand. She handed it to Agent Romanov. "Agent, here is a copy of Dr. Foster's Stark Industries _and_ SHIELD contract. You'll find that Dr. Foster is still contracted by SHIELD as a _consultant_ in matters pertaining to the astronomical anomalies in New Mexico of May 2011. And being a consultant, much like Tony is, this allows her to work on various projects. Her current project for Stark Industries is confidential, of course, and she is under a strict nondisclosure agreement until the project is done."

Agent Romanov's face remained blanked, her eyes flicked to Pepper and then to Jane, and answered Barton's question. "Seems she just did." She almost sounded amused, but levelled Jane a look, "Of course, this means that any of your remaining SHIELD funding is no longer viable as if of this second."

Oh god, oh god. Jane turned to Tony.

Tony didn't even let her speak. "You're funded. Pep?"

Pepper pulled out her StarkPad, and presented it to Jane. "Dr. Foster, your new Stark Industries grant. If you'll put thumb print where indicated." She turned with a slow smile to the two SHIELD agents. "She's still on retainer to SHIELD, of course. That should make Fury's speech to you about ten minutes instead of twenty. If Commander Fury has any further issues with this agreement, please let him know he can contact me, Ms. Rushman."

There was a sly inflection in Pepper's voice in her last words.

Romanov smirked, and took the file that Pepper handed her. "Of course, Ms. Potts. Clint? Let's go, we have long meeting ahead of us." She paused at the door, "Good luck, Dr. Foster. Try not to wreck New York again. We just fixed it."

She nodded her good-byes to everyone else.

"I have no plans of endangering the city," Jane said, crossing her arms. Next to her, Darcy coughed, meaningfully. "But we'll let SHIELD know when the test will be run."

"Yeah, I wouldn't mind seeing Thor again," Barton said, at Romanov's side, giving them a salute. "As always it's been awesome, Stark. Banner. Call you guys next invasion!"

Tony called back, "Please don't!"

As the two SHIELD agents left Tony turned back to Jane, grinning. "Oh Jane, I knew you loved me."

She rolled her eyes. "It's not like I had many options, Tony."

He walked up to her and dropped an arm around her shoulder, his other arm around Darcy. "Please, you don't need to hide it, Foster. I see how you look at my tech. Come on, let's finish eating and then we can get back to making Fury's eye twitch while Pepper fills you in on how you've basically signed away your life to come live with me forever?" At that Jane laughed. Pepper and Bruce fell into step behind them.

 

 

_.mynd and noirun_

 

Thor's first memory was of Loki, of small, cool, pudgy hands wrapping around Thor's own and of ungainly feet trying run along side him. Loki's first steps were at the heels of Thor's impatient ones as Thor ran to their mother indifferent to Loki's slow and unsteady crawl. But Loki had not let go of Thor's hand, pushed himself up, and tried to keep up with Thor—had kept up with Thor—until their mother's arms wrapped around them both. 

That was a long time ago. 

Why his sleeping thoughts sought to remind him of this he could not guess.

Thor knew he was not made for dreams. Not the dreams his mother had nor the dreams that Loki had tried to hide for so long. Thor remembered when they were younger, how the quick shadow that was Loki would slip into his room and poke him awake because of his dreams. They never made sense to Thor—dreams of ice and flowers melting, and Loki alone in forests surrounded by snakes and wolves. Thor could never have imagined himself leaving his younger brother alone, but now his dreams made as little sense to him as Loki's used too.

He was young in the dream, as he used to be, and Loki's hand was cold in his grip. A shadow following the light, sharp in contrast. In front of Thor stood his mother, bright as Asgard and equally as Eternal for Thor, her arms outstretched, awaiting the brothers. 

Thor ran towards her, his limbs growing as he did. Loki's grip grew colder as they moved, and their mother faded and shifted into a tree, long limbed and tall. 

Thor could not stop running. Loki's shadow became darker at his side, still growing colder. But he did not let go, and neither did Thor. The ground under them broke, ice crystals shattering. They flashed like the Bifrost. Both fell, but there was no father this time reaching out to catch both sons with one hand when he could have extended two. Yggdrasil caught her children this time, but could not hold them both. Her branches broke under their weight and the weight of what they had wrought. The great ash tree shuddered. Its leaves began to burn, drums sounded, and they fell once more. 

The fire followed, and Loki's hand almost slipped from Thor's side. 

"No, brother!" Thor called. This time he caught Loki's wrist. The bones of his wrist cracked under his grip, and they kept falling. Jörmungandr's mouth snapped as they passed her glowing eyes. 

The desert caught them, a different heat enveloped them. One Thor longed for.

Jane Foster's arms wrapped around him. One arm circling his back, the other around his neck, her breath warm against his cheek. 

"Jane," Thor choked out. The hand not holding Loki pulled her close to him. "Jane," he said again, "Jane."

Her eyes were warm, her smile wide and she held him. She kept them all from falling further. Loki's wrist seemed to slip from his hand—he was pulling away.

"No," Jane said, holding Thor tighter. Her chest was pressed flat against his breastplate; her was face all he could see. "Hold tighter."

He could feel Loki fight against his grip, a shadow trying to slip away from the light. The younger brother who hid in his books when he was not asked to join a game. The second son who was never held up to share the light.

"You have to hold on, Thor," Jane said, her mouth now on his. "You have to hold on."

Thor held on. His grip on Loki tightened, and he pulled Jane closer. 

Her arms tightened around him, too, and she looked over his shoulder where Loki stood. "He looks like he's handy to have around the heat," her voice soft, a whisper, and yet the only sound he could hear.

Thor followed her gaze. It was not the face of the brother he's grown up with. Loki face was marked with lines and the cobalt blue of the jötunn, making the planes of his face look sharper. His eyes burned like fire. 

"Brother," said Thor softly. 

"Monster," Loki spat back. 

"Loki," said Jane.

Under Thor's feet the desert crumbled into fire and he held on as they all fell. Yggdrasil extended her branches to them, but Thor had no free hand with which to reach, and Loki would not reach. Jane did, her fingers grabbing at the burning leaves, but they turned to ash in her hand. The ash blew into Thor's face.

Thor woke, at that moment. Sweat beading at his brow. The smell of smoke filled his nose. He was not made for the dreams. He never understood the intricacies of their half-truths and warnings. Loki had always understood, even when he had not wanted to, the clever son, his silent brother. His mother could See, but her burden was to keep her sight to herself. His father, Lord of the Wild Hunt, was said to know all things and commanded the power of the Hugrunes that bent to his will.

But Thor was thunder. He was metal and he was battle. Magic always felt clumsy on his fingers, but he was born of Frigga, he was born of Odin, he was brother of Loki, and it did not mean he did not have the dreams too.

Yggdrasil touched all her children. 

 

-

 

Thor rode Gyllir to the far edges of Asgard, away from the palace and the Bifrost, to pool of clear blue water. Thor dismounted when he reached it and waded in to the waters, where stood ankle calf deep in the water. 

Memories of this place filled him:

_Jumping off the large boulders at the edge of the lake with Sif. Loki's thin shoulders, his dark hair curling as it dried, a wide grin on his face after beating him in a race. Sif, still flaxen haired, grinning wider after she beat Loki._

_A challenge to see who could reach touch the bottom at the deepest part— Thor had won, but almost drowned. Sif and Loki's bright eyes matching for once in their irritation in him at his recklessness._

_Loki, showing them how he could spell the water._

_Sif, now dark of hair, laughing at Loki's spell in delight. Thor mesmerised, by his brother's skill, by how easy Sif laughed after weeks of only presenting them with an angry scowl because her had not supported of her pursuits as shield-maiden. Loki's unhappy eyes when Thor had slipped on a rock on the bank and crashed into Loki. He had sent them both into the water then, breaking the spell. Sif had only laughed. Loki's eyes had hardened._

_Thor, alone, in the middle of the night, floating on his back, filled with guilt about the dwarves and the cave as Loki healed in the palace._

_The first time he brought the Warriors Three here, laughing. Loki's silver tongue sharper than ever. Sif's eyes hard on his brother._

It'd been years since Thor had been here to the pool, with its clear blue waters that let the shining pebbles at the bottom glimmer like stardust. 

_Loki had accompanied him that day._

_"Thank you, brother, for helping me get Mjölnir back," Thor said, lying on the largest of the boulders._

_Loki sat next to him, "It was either that or see father cast you out for your impudence."_

_Thor laughed, "You speak the truth, brother. And for that I am forever in your debt."_

_"Oh, forever now? That's good know. I'll keep that in mind for next time you get us in a scrape."_

_Thor grinned and poked his brother's side. Loki slapped his hand away._

_"You are all bone, brother," Thor said, with mock graveness. "You must stop Sif from stealing all your meats."_

_Loki's eyes slanted and lips thinned at the mention of his leanness. "And you are as blunt and thick as you hammer. Now I wonder why I even helped you recover it."_

_"Father would have cast me out," Thor reminded him, winningly._

_"Ah, yes, I remember now. How could I forget?"_

_"I do not know, as you only said it yourself only moments ago." Thor said then, pausing as a thought turned in his head. "Father would never cast us out… would he?"_

_The look Loki had given him was one Thor only saw when Loki felt someone was being incurably dense. Thor has had the look directed to him enough times not to be insulted._

_"Father would never."_

_"If anything, Mother would never let him," Thor said, and both brothers shared a look that ended in laughter. The Allfather might rule the realm, but Thor and Loki knew who ruled the Allfather._

_They sat in companionable silence, watching as the edges of the realm as day turned into night. Thor crossed his arms went behind his head. When Loki spoke, it was softly, as if he didn't want to give the words too much weight._

_"Mother says the Odin Sleep nears," Loki said, a careful glance to Thor. "You are able to take the throne soon."_

_Thor shifted on his back, feeling the muscles bunch up under his tunic, "Father does not see me ready." Thor closed his eyes. He did not want Loki to see that he did not feel see himself ready either._

_"One day you will be, Thor."_

_Thor grinned, eyes still closed. "And I will need you around for council when I am."_

_"Of course." He felt Loki stretch his legs out, resting back on his elbows next to Thor. "Where else would I be?"_

_They had headed back to the palace as night fell, joining the feast being held for the first day of the winter solstice an hour late, to the unimpressed but amused gaze of their mother._

It would be several more years, more than there should have been, before their father dropped into the Odin Sleep on the stairs of his weapon's vault, one son broken, and the other an outcast. Neither was ready for the throne. 

Now Thor stood alone, feeling a fire that burned closer, hearing drums that pounded louder, unsure of what it all meant. A falcon flew over head, rising higher into the clouds, into Asgard's darkening sky. Its cry was the only sound in clearing. Thor tracked its flight until he could not see it anymore. 

Stepping out of the pool, Thor bent and picked a stone from the shallow edges of the back. His boots squelched on the ground. The stone glittered in his hand, the pale colour of the moon. Closing his palm around it, he felt it's smooth edges and tossed it. Like a child, he was proud to see that it skipped along the pool's surface for nine beats before it slipping under the water. 

Loki had been the one to teach him how to skip rocks. 

Heading back to his horse, he decided: one day he would bring Jane here. The pool needed new memories.

 

 

_.wings and watchers_

 

The falcon soared into the cloud, past the young prince, past Asgard, past the Bridge-seeker and Midgard. It flapped its wings and perched itself the wide area between its companion's eyes. The eagle huffed and shook him off. 

"I hate it when you do that," said the eagle. 

The falcon laughed and hopped down on to the branch, wings arching as if it was shrugging. "The Thunderer grows impatient, and, to my everlasting surprise, wise."

The eagle scoffed, "Wise, that's a new one."

"It is," Vedrfolnir said. "He was bound to grow up at some point."

"You are right there. Too him long enough. And his Bridge-Seeker?"

"She grows impatient."

"Oh, not wise?"

"Hers is a different wisdom."

The eagle's laugh sounded more of a series of squawks. The branch where they sat shook and the two companions looked at each other, worried. The shakes were getting worse. Through the branches and falling leaves, the wilting yellow and red leaves of autumn that were unnatural to the great yew tree, a squirrel's face appeared. 

"Did you two feel that? I almost fell off the branch," said Ratatoskrl. He shook his dark fur out. 

"If only you would," the eagle muttered. 

"You only say that because you don't know what I know." 

"And what do you know?" Vedrfolnir turned a curious look at the squirrel, hating to be left out of the loop.

As Ratatoskr opened its mouth to share its news, the tree shook again, harder than before. This time all three would have fallen if their claws and talons hadn't dug into bark of their mother and home.

The vibrations rumbled through them and through the tree. Clutching at the branch he fell down upon, Ratatoskr looked over the edge down to the realms. There fire woke, giants slept, the world-snake groaned, and mortals yelled. 

"Man, she really knows how to steal the thunder."

The tree still shook and them with it.


	5. 0.0

_.the light cone_

 

About three months ago, Stark Tower's held a machine that had opened a portal to the other side of the universe. That portal opened up and what it brought forth had devastated Manhattan.

Jane hadn't wanted to open the Bridge in the same place, but anywhere else in the city would be too public and risky, New Mexico too far away, and with the SHIELD Helicarrier hovering in the air or floating on the ocean, there were too many variables. She needed stable ground. Tony had assured her that the Tower was the sturdiest building in all of the East Coast. 

It was how the platform and the machine found themselves on the Stark Tower roof surrounded by herself, Darcy, Erik, Pepper, the rest of the Avengers, and more than a few SHIELD agents with guns. This wasn't how Jane had wanted to open the Bridge, but it was the best she was getting and she knew that. 

"The energy is being transferred at stable rate?" Jane asked, as she walked along the perimeter of the platform. Swirling pieces of metal and fibreglass wound across a circular surface, its pattern mimicking the shape, size, and knotted symbols the Bifrost left on the desert ground in New Mexico. It wasn't enough to just have the wormhole open, it needed a reference point. 

Attached to the platform stood The Big One, now powered by an arc reactor core, much like the one that powered the building and Tony's chest. It was funnelling the energy to the platform.

In the Iron Man suit, Tony flipped his visor up and bent to check the machine. "Everything as green as Bruce gets. All readings are clear and we should have the beginnings of a wormhole opening any second now. Actually, according to this we should have had it— "

"Three minutes ago," Jane said, brow furrowed. There was the smell of ozone burning, and the platform seemed to pulsate, but nothing was happening. She heard Tony telling her to be careful, and Bruce step up behind her. Jane bent closer to inspect one of the nine generators attached to the platform to make sure the transfer of energy was circulating around the platform equally. "The conductors and platform are reading green too," Jane said, pulling a pen out of her pocket, using it to pin up her hair. 

"It's all reading fine. I don't get it!" She exclaimed, "Why isn't it connecting—" 

Turning to the group, lips twisted in frustration, Jane's heel connected with the platform. Catching her off balance, her foot landed on it. Even as Bruce held his arm out to steady her, it was too late, she was already on it. All the monotone beeps and hum of the machine transformed into a symphony. White light erupted around her, and Jane thought of every alien cliche from every show and movie she'd ever seen. 

Blinking, at the brightness of the light she noticed it wasn't a pure white. It moved fast, but she caught the colours pulsing in the light. It flashed around her, like she was inside a spinning prism, and even as she stood full of awe, she realised that the Bridge was not just opening, but it was _taking_ her.

The sounds of her friends yelling filled her ears.

Something around her fingers tightened and pulled. Jane looked down to see a hand holding her wrist. Oh god, Bruce! Looking up, she met his eyes the other side of the event horizon. Through the light, he was a haze but she could see: his eyes were no longer brown. Green flashed like flames in them, and his hand around her swelled, pink skin turning green. There was a second where Jane thought to be afraid — that was the Hulk's skin! — but she pushed it back and grabbed at the changing skin. 

"Bruce!"

"Hold on, Jane!" he yelled. She could feel the bones in her wrist grinding together under his transformation. He held on, but the hold was slippery. From what she could see of him through the pulsing colours, which were getting clearer each second, his face was drenched in sweat. It was hurting him to try to only change one part of himself, and he wouldn't be able to hold her much long, Jane realised. Not Bruce, or his Hulking hand, because she felt the pull. 

It started in her stomach and it fanned out across her body like wave. Her other hand scrambled for purchase in the thick green fingers that held her, but the pull called for Jane.

The screams from the others were drowned out buy the power of the bridge. It would be to dangerous to let the power build any longer, she knew. 

Jane made a choice.

She dropped her grip on Bruce, and let her hand slip free. His arm fell back through the light and—

 _too much too much too much too much_.

It was all too much, and went too fast, (too unstable). Her bridge (bridge-seeker) hadn't called down Thor or the bridge (bifrost, rainbow bridge, einstein-rosen, foster, foster, foster, jane foster, she was jane foster, bridge-seeker, bridge-builder). She had called herself up — the path of least resistance. ( _…steal the thunder_.) — but it felt as if she was falling. She thought she was falling, but how can you fall up—

(there was a book of poems once, she read it as child. _falling up_. there was also: _the great tree, the world-ash, cries and shudders. fire woke and giants slept. the world-snake groaned and a wolf howled into the stars. three women laughed and a dragon hissed. ginnungagap held all, but yggdrasil held them close. mother. drums sounded. fire burned brighter—_ )

—and everything around her was light. Too bright, too thick, too much, too much, too fast (— _so many branches were broken_.) Thor's gift felt hot against her skin, where it rested between her breasts. (A token. A necklace.)

An arm shot out, golden and thick. A strong, steady hand gripped her aching wrist and yanked. Her wrist hurt again. Jane fell.

The ground was hard.

(That's how she knew she didn't die. 

Yggdrasil caught all her children.)

Crystal pulsed under her and she forced herself to look up. Her throat felt thick, but there was no bile trying to make its way out of her body. She wasn't going to throw up. Jane didn't throw up. She remembered this about herself and it steadied her. Her feet though, _they_ felt unsteady, and around her there was only space—wait, no, not only space. Someone was holding her. An arm had reached out. 

Next to her there was—

She always thought of Thor as golden, but no, this was truly golden. His armour shone like the sun and his eyes burned like it. He was dark. He made her think of space. A solitary sun shining at the dark edges of space. 

Her eyes widened as realisation struck.

"Heimdall," she breathed. 

"You are safe, Jane Foster of Midgard. You have reached Asgard," he said, gravely. 

The arm that held her kept her upright and Jane turned from the edge, where stars pulled at her, to the city. Asgard, home of the Aesir. The Realm Eternal, was shining bright in front of her.

It hurt her eyes. 

Jane closed her eyes, then opened them slowly. Gold and crystal still gleamed.

She was far out, but she could see tall buildings littering it, and from the huge golden gates she saw a shape barrelling closer. Her breath caught. 

Heimdall still stood steading her, and she was glad, because her knees felt a little weak again.

"Thor comes," Heimdall said. 

Make that very weak.

As she started to make out the details of Thor's shape pain bloomed in her temples, and dark spots sprouted up in the world in front of her. _Oh no, oh no_ , Jane felt her knees buckle. Thor and Asgard wavered for second. She turned her face to Heimdall. 

"I think—I might have a concussion. Pretty sure I'm gonna—"

Jane felt herself into unconsciousness, and was really glad that Heimdall seemed to have a good grip on him. She would have liked to believe that Thor caught her as he neared, like straight out of romance novel, just so she could tell Darcy about it later, but Jane was sure he didn't.

The world around her went dark.

( _the world-ash shuddered, a wolf howled into the stars._ )

 

 

_.light and seeker_

 

It happened quickly. 

Sif smiled at something Frigga said. His mother's eyes widen, and she turned her face to where the Bifrost stood. Shock covered her face. Thor had never seen shock in his mother's face. A second later, a messenger stepped into the room, calling for Thor. 

"Heimdall seeks an audience, my prince."

Thor looked at his mother, whose lips were pressed in a worried line. She touched his cheek, eyes bright but heavy with all that she saw.

"Go, my son. Quickly."

He only shared a quick, confused glance with Sif before stepping out on his mother's balcony and spinning Mjölnir into flight. Under his skin his bones felt charged with power he had not yet called forth. It was always so when he took flight. At the edge of the city he understood the message from the gatekeeper and the look on his mother's face. 

Jane. Something had happened to her. 

Thor pushed his power into the hammer and felt Mjölnir respond, pulling its own power forth. They flew faster. His eyes caught the sight of Heimdall turning a small body from the edge of the Bifrost to face the realm. 

_Faster_ , he whispered. Mjölnir obeyed. 

His feet thudded on the broken edge of the Bifrost, the pulse of the crystal echoing him, just in time to Jane fall unconscious in Heimdall arms. 

Overhead, storm clouds gathered. The bridge shook as Thor dropped the hammer, rushing to Jane. He took her into his arms. Heimdall gripped his sword with both hands. His gaze weighed on Thor.

"She lives, my prince."

Thor held Jane closer. She seemed smaller in his arms than he recalled. Her breathing was slow, but even. 

"I know," Thor said, pushing her hair back. He looked to Heimdall, who seemed to be standing watch over Jane and him instead of the cosmos, for once. "How did she come to be here?"

Heimdall turned to the edge of the Bifrost where the rebuilding of his golden dome went slow, "She opened her own Bifrost, my prince. She found you. It was precarious attempt. The paths between realms remain unsteady and unpredictable. I had to call upon some of my power to keep her path from collapsing on itself as she travelled."

At his words, Thor pulled Jane closer. His dreams seemed suddenly too real. 

"I thank you for your aiding her, great Heimdall. More than I can express." He looked down to Jane. She shifted in his arms but did not wake.

"You need not thank me, my prince. I am here to serve you." Heimdall nodded towards Jane. "She will need a healer."

"And you do it well." Thor shifted Jane in his arms. "Thank you, Heimdall," he said one more time before taking off back to the palace.

Landing on his mother's balcony from where he had departed, he wasted no time, "Mother, I need your aide." Immediately, her hands went to Jane's face, framing Jane's face.

"Hilde, call for a healer." Behind his mother, one of her handmaidens rushed away and Sif's eyes went wide.

"Is that Jane?"

Thor touched Jane's brow, answering Sif, smiling softly. "It seems she's found her way to Asgard."

In his arms, Jane turned her head into his mother's hand, mumbling words he could not make out. 

Frigga smiled, "Let's find her a bed. She's had a long journey."

 

 

_.beginning_

 

Jane woke.

 

_…to be continued_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...hahhahaha, I'm the worst, I know. Write a fic about a couple that doesn't even share the same space for most it. I am a failure. In all honesty, the fic was not supposed to end there -- they were supposed to kiss! a lot! with tongue! -- but the story grew as I wrote and the got longer that I realised I needed to make a change about how to present it. So now it's a series! Write a bigbang, end up with an accidental series. Totally normal. But I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless. Thank you for reading! I'd like to send a special shout out to my betas, one who participated in the challenge too, so they had double the duty. And the other was dealing with other fics to beta. They are my heroes. Also I don't think I could have gotten through this without my best buds, kay and fuzz, who put up with all my flailing as I wrote and ngl still put up with my random emails about. Winners, all of them.


End file.
